UAE health care sector offers relief amid regional unrest

The UAE's health care sector has come out stronger amid regional unrest as major corporates relocate to Dubai, senior private sector executives say. "Dubai and the UAE have become more attractive [since the Arab Spring began]," said David Hadley, CEO of EHL Management Services. He said the demand for health care services will continue to rise and is growing at a faster rate than was anticipated. He however, conceded that it is expensive to open a hospital or a clinic in the UAE, but said that people are still finding opportunities here. Dubai opened up the health care industry sector for the private sector and a senior Dubai health Authority (DHA) executive had earlier suggested that the private sector will come to operate 70 per cent of the hospitals in the emirate in four years time. He had also noted that the DHA by itself will not be able to meet the growing health care demand. Recent studies show that investments in the health care sector are poised to increase by 16 per cent annually with the private sector expected to be a significant contributor. The investments in the health care sector are steadily pouring in and Mark Adams, CEO of Gulf Healthcare International, announced a Dh100 million pan-UAE expansion plan. The expansion includes the opening of six new clinics catering to the middle income group. About Dh25 million will be invested in each clinic. The group on Thursday opened a clinic at Rigga Business Centre in Deira. Global standards The group had opened the first occupational health facility in March this year. Adams had earlier told Gulf News that there was a pressing need for proper facilities for spinal and brain injuries given the number of traffic accidents reported across the region. Hadley said the heath care services compare favourably with those around the world. "Dubai [as a whole] is not cheap," he said, when asked why medical services are high here. Hadley said the UAE's spend on health care is 2.7 per cent of the country's GDP. The country's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) was Dh212 billion in 2008. So the expenditure on health care works out to just Dh5.7 billion. "As the spending increases there will be improvements," he added. As per a World Health Organisation (WHO) report, the per capita health care expenditure in the UAE last year was put at around Dh4,510, way below Dh15,858 per capita expenditure by the high-income group of countries like the US, UK, Canada and Germany.