GCC FOCUS

The medical industry in Dubai is set to receive a major boost from the country’s new five-year healthcare strategy. Presented by His Highness Shaikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, in late January, the Dubai Health Strategy 2021 was developed as a five-year blueprint for improving the quality and cost effectiveness of health services in the emirate, and strengthening collaboration between the public and private sectors.

The four pillars on which the strategy has been built are health and lifestyle, excellence in providing service, smart health care and governance. In particular, the government is looking to encourage private investment in medical tourism and related real estate development, along with key ehealth services.

Private health shift

In recent years the Dubai Health Authority has focused on shifting the provision of health services from the public to the private sector, with a target 30:70 division of funding. A combined Dh12.8 billion ($3.5 billion) was spent on health care in Dubai in 2014, with the private health sector accounting for roughly two-thirds of the total, at Dh8.5 billion ($2.3 billion).

“Globally, it’s been proven that health care services are more efficient when privatised,” David Hadley, chief executive officer of Mediclinic Middle East, the largest private health care service provider in the UAE, told OBG. “Though the government should continue to provide health care to those who cannot afford private coverage.”

The shift towards private health services is being supported in large part by the full implementation of compulsory medical insurance,