The UAE is a beacon of inspiration for the future of healthcare. Ranked consistently as the best healthcare provider in the Middle East, and amongst the best in the world, this relatively young country is one of those rare examples of how private and public healthcare systems can merge seamlessly, to enable the country to not only generously deal with the medical needs of their citizens and the resident population of expats, but actively encourage medical tourism.
A focus on excellence and innovation
In 2010 the leaders of the UAE announced a remarkable plan to elevate and transform their country by 2021, to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the foundation of the nation. Ever forward-thinking, the focus of the aptly named UAE Vision 2021 is excellence in innovation, an acknowledgement that the world was about to make significant progress and ensuring that the UAE would be at the heart of it all.
Innovative developments in the areas of healthcare, environment, economy, education, and society ensued, and are well on their way to making the UAE one of the most progressive countries in the world. There are many spectacular examples of how this has played out, not least the development of the UAE space programme, but healthcare is chief amongst the UAE’s success stories.
Why is healthcare so successful?
The UAE has dramatically improved the quality of life for citizens and residents alike. Demographically the population of the UAE is growing and changing shape, so healthcare services will need to continuously improve in order to cater to higher standards and an older and larger number of people in the future. The World Bank projects that the UAE’s population will grow from 9.4 million people in mid-2017 to almost 11.1 million by 2030, with an average life expectancy of 79.8 years.
Health insurance cover is mandatory for all and, as you would expect, a mandatory health scheme drives demand for high standards in both private and public facilities alike. UAE nationals are covered at no cost through the “Thiqa” public system, while all employers are required to provide private health insurance to resident employees and their dependents.
Healthcare in the UAE is big business – in a recent study by MENA Research Partners, the UAE Healthcare market is project to reach AED103 billion by 2021. (Source: bcbuae.com/state-uae-healthcare)
What does the investment in healthcare look like?
Every vision needs practical steps and underlying investment. To reach its goal, the UAE Ministry of Health and Prevention has focused on:
Human capital: Developing innovation and research capabilities for health providers.
Information capital: Creating a platform for sharing information and facilitating access by relevant partners.
Funding: Using resources in a systematic and sophisticated way, developing methods to facilitate the financing of health innovations.
Technology: Taking advantage of advanced technology.
Partnerships: Creating partnerships to support innovation and research.
(Source: www.mohap.gov.ae/en)
In practice, this investment ranges from the introduction of superb facilities to the recruitment of talented medics and partners from overseas.
State-of-the-art Medical facilities & Medical Cities
Spectacularly designed, first-class hospitals such as Cleveland Clinic in Abu Dhabi are part of the initiative to provide better healthcare services and ease access to facilities. As well as building some of the finest medical centres, the UAE has opened several healthcare cities – complexes which contain a whole range of clinics of various specialties. The range and quality of facilities has helped to develop medical research to treat prevalent diseases such as diabetes and obesity, and create advanced technological systems to manage the health system.
Increasing medical talent
Integral to the UAE’s success is that it has actively sought excellent healthcare partnerships and providers in order to attract the highest quality medics in the world. World-leading institutions such as Moorfields Eye Hospital and the Imperial College London Diabetes Centre has introduced a pool of talent and procedures that are world class. Talented medics are further encouraged to live and work in the UAE by the generous work/life balance, tolerant society, financial benefits and enticements such as the 10-year residence visas for doctors.
Innovation & Technology
Clearly contributing to saving lives and improving the wellbeing of patients, technological advancements include robotic surgery or strengthening the telemedicine system with virtual clinics and promoting healthy lifestyles by using smart technology for preventive purposes.
Medical Tourism
Abu Dhabi and Dubai have launched portals to allow international medical tourists to efficiently book procedures and access a wide range of tourism services including direct contact with healthcare providers, issuing visas, booking appointments, hotels, and transportation. The portals are a quality indicator of how well the healthcare system is regarded, for example, by 2020, Dubai was confidently expecting to cater to 500,000 patients from outside the country, and the UAE’s medical tourism revenues are expected to exceed $700 million. All part of a thriving industry that puts the UAE on the map.
For further information on the UAE’s inspiring vision for healthcare visit the government website https://www.vision2021.ae/en or the Ministry of Health and Prevention’s website https://www.mohap.gov.ae/en.