Investors dislike any hypotheses
▶ Hence more money goes into curative than preventive health care
Preventive, versus curative, health care, is important, yet there remain tough questions around how such interventions will be financed.
Speaking at a medical symposium in Dubai last week by Crescent Enterprises, the Emirati founder of the UAE Genetic Diseases Association, Dr Maryam Matar, said: “Investors focus on curative measures, which is essential, but there is a huge lack of investment in prevention. This is what we are missing.”
According to Dr Matar, untapped opportunities include investment into sleep and water quality – now recognised as the two main factors for humans’ capacity to stave off illnesses such as obesity, and diabetes – genetic counselling to support people with inherited conditions that may affect them later in life, and of course, better medical education.
The emerging field of “epigenetics”, which explores the relationship between genetic make-up and environmental factors, is another opportunity, Dr Matar said.
On the surface, these may seem like compelling propositions, yet delegates at the symposium admitted they were uncertain how to make such long-term investments work for all stakeholders.
Panel moderator Helmut Schuehsler, chairman and chief executive of venture capital firm TVM Capital Healthcare Partners, said: “We are open to such prospects but we remain scratching our heads at how to build the business case.”
Dr Matar pointed out, many preventive healthcare solutions are 15-year-plus ventures – “an entire generation”. What’s more, with healthcare knowledge an ever-evolving field due to rapidly advancing technologies, some of the solutions are, regrettably, yet-to-be-proven hypotheses.
Investors have become increasingly risk-averse in the years following the global economic crisis and are seeking stable, yield-generating prospects offered by high-footfall regional hospitals and tried-and tested curative treatment. A mental shift is required to look at longer-term and invest money in preventive strategies, however critical they are.
Still, reports suggest the level of investment required to tackle what has been described as a “chronic healthcare crisis” in the GCC is huge.
For example, GCC healthcare expenditure on diabetes is forecast to rise to US$21.8 billion by 2040, from $12.8bn in 2015, according to EY and the Economist Intelligence Unit – a staggering amount.
As the region continues to face rising rates of lifestyle diseases, advocates of preventive healthcare may have to get even more vocal about their cause, and demonstrate clear, evidence-based findings to give investors the confidence they need to get on board.