The Health Sector in the Middle East

The Middle East region and specifically GCC have placed increasing emphasis on improved health care during the past decade. Delivery of health care in the region interrelates strongly with other factors, such as nutrition, sanitation, water supply, and income distribution. In general, the governments are the main provider of health care, and social insurance is viewed as a public responsibility.

The Middle East region is composed of a diverse mix of countries, ranging from very poor nations to wealthy oil exporting countries. Public-private mix in financing and provision of health services is important in the low- and middle-income countries of the region, while the wealthier oil-exporting countries tend to have National Health Service systems.

The countries in his region can be divided into the following groups:

- Countries typified by substantial capital, rapid development, and a small indigenous population, such as Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, UAE, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman, and Yemen.

- Countries with less capital, more people, a quantitatively larger medical infrastructure, and more trained medical personnel, such as Lebanon , Egypt, Israel, and Algeria.

- Countries whose extensive medical service plans have been halted or greatly decreased in scope because of civil strife or war, such as Iraq, and Iran.

The total population in the Middle East region is 170 Million dollar with a total annual budget of 13 Billion dollar from the Ministry of Health. The total expenditure on healthcare including private hospitals amounts to 36.5 Billion dollar. The Middle East's healthcare sector is expanding rapidly, and it has an impact on both the economies and the lives of the people of this region. The estimated value of this sector is 74 billion dollar, and this is expanding at 16% annually. The sector is emerging as one of the fastest-growing and most attractive markets.

The region's healthcare sector is witnessing major medical projects within the Middle East, including Dubai Healthcare City (DHCC) and the International Medical Centre (IMC) in Jeddah. The reasons behind this expansion are population and the emergence of countries as potential destinations for healthcare tourism. The followings are some country statistics:

- UAE - Experiencing a population growth of 14% with an annual budget 439 Million dollar from Ministry of Health while the total expenditure on healthcare is around 2.9 Billion dollar. Along with this trend, the Dubai Health Care City has invested Dh350 million into its infrastructure and Phase one of DHCC has already started.

- Saudi Arabia - Population growth rate of 3.3% has an annual budget of 3.6 Billion dollar from its Ministry of Health while the total expenditure on health care is $9.6 Billion dollar.

- Qatar - Population growth is only 3.2%, while the Ministry of Health's annual budget is 310 Million dollar and the total expenditure on health care is 415 Million dollar.

Medical Technology

Medical facilities in the region are relying more and more on technological innovations that are pushing medical facilities to higher levels of operational sophistication. A number of important pharmaceutical companies, are trying to establish a base in Dubai DHCC. These include GlaxoSmithKline, Johnson & Johnson, and Novartis Pharma Services.

The rapid development over the past few years, of ever more sophisticated medical equipment for diagnosis and treatment has been breathtaking. This rapid development is being transferred rapidly to the area. Patients are benefiting from the rapid introduction of technology. Even robots will be introduced that will help doctors in the near future in various elements and areas, like hospital rounds, surgical work and others.

The Medical IT market

There is a rapid growth in the medical IT market in the GCC region. The new generation of technology offers medical institutions the opportunity to save time, reduce the risk of medical errors, and offer higher standards of care, and it is heartening to see so many institutions in the region in the first wave of early adoption.

There is a move worldwide towards computerized patient records and the need to improve efficiency. Technology companies, seeing a new pool of untapped profits, are more than happy to help. The Medical IT market is flourishing rapidly in the area with a lot of interest in developing a comprehensive computerized health information system. A number of countries in the area have already started the process, which will take several years to complete. Electronic medical records could substantially reduce deaths each year due to medical errors. Many of these fatal errors stem from simple mistakes like the dispensing of wrong medicines because of sloppy handwriting or delayed treatments because of paperwork holdups.

Health Care System

The development and implementation of critical healthcare reforms and strong policy making processes, has resulted in health systems that are more efficient and equitable. Today, health organizations must balance quality care and accountability in an environment of increased costs allied to limited resources and funding. Healthcare policy comprises the priorities, regulations, and administrative framework of a healthcare system. Changes in policy may reallocate resources among levels of care, allow greater local participation in care financing and provision decisions, adopt more efficient payment systems, and help ensure quality of care through appropriate incentives and monitoring. These changes and expanding access to healthcare are improving general health and well-being in the GCC region.

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