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Speciality healthcare: Wide range of services in the UAE

A fast-paced lifestyle, stressful jobs, extensive travel, 10-hour-plus inter-continental flights, a highly-competitive society and a multitude of career challenges are among the reasons for an increased number of individuals suffering from modern diseases and ailments

There was a time when a primary care physician would handle most of the problems that confronted an individual. While these general practitioners would tackle almost all ailments, there would be a few doctors involved with specialities such as a paediatrician or an internal medicine physician.
Compared to previous decades, the dawn of the 21st century has witnessed a host of new lifestyle diseases, impacting people around the globe.
The result: there arose the need for a host of new specialists to tackle these challenges. The specialists (who are post-graduates in their specialised subjects) range from allergists, cardiologists and dermatologists, to endocrinologists, haematologists, neurologists and oncologists, to psychiatrists, rheumatologists and urologists.
While primary healthcare has established its strong presence in the UAE and many countries in the developed world, speciality healthcare too has taken off in a significant way, with a wide range of specialist services now available to citizens and residents across several hospitals (both government-owned and private) and clinics.
The UAE Vision 2021 document acknowledged that, "Innovation, research, science and technology will form the pillars of a knowledge-based, highly productive and competitive economy, driven by entrepreneurs in a business-friendly environment where public and private sectors form effective partnerships."
Providing world-class healthcare is one of the six pillars of the National Agenda in line with Vision 2021. The agenda emphasizes the importance of preventive medicine and seeks to reduce cancer and lifestyle-related ailments such as diabetes and cardiovascular diseases to ensure a longer, healthier life for citizens.
All these features would ensure that the UAE emerges among the best countries in the world in terms of quality healthcare by 2021.
The government has set key indicators to measure its performance against the targets including the number of deaths from cardiovascular diseases and cancer (per 100,000 population), and prevalence of diabetes and obesity among children.
The Dubai Health Strategy 2021 focuses on six objectives including ensuring provision of high-quality, comprehensive and integrated health service system.
Similarly, the Abu Dhabi Healthcare Strategic Plan aims to reduce capacity gaps, improve the quality of healthcare services, patient safety and experience and ensuring value for money and sustainability of healthcare spending, as well as encouraging private investments.
The UAE is working with leading global institutions (including the Cleveland Clinic, Johns Hopkins Medical School and the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation) to develop the healthcare system.
One of the key aspects of Dubai Health Strategy 2021 is the chronic disease management programme, which drives the development of speciality centres focused on the management of such ailments outside the settings of acute and tertiary hospitals.
This would include innovation in the delivery of diabetes treatment, development and establishment of renal dialysis treatment centres and setting up specialised centres to treat chronic respiratory diseases.
The Dubai Health Authority, which has several hospitals including the Dubai hospital, Rashid hospital, Latifa Women and Children hospital and Hatta hospital, also has many speciality centres.
They include Dubai Genetics Centre, Dubai Cord Blood and Research Centre, Thalassemia Centre, Dubai Gynaecology and Fertility centre, Dubai Diabetes Centre and Dubai Physiotherapy and Rehabilitation centre.
His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, recently launched the 50-Year Charter that focuses on improving the quality of life in Dubai. One of the objectives of the charter is to transform the medical system of the emirate. 
The Dubai Healthcare City Authority also introduced a new license which allows international physicians, dentists, and Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) practitioners to enter the UAE, and work in up to three clinical facilities within the Dubai Healthcare City free zone.
A recent GCC Healthcare industry report noted that the UAE healthcare market could touch nearly $20 billion by 2020, growing at a phenomenal annual average growth rate of 12.7 per cent.
The GCC healthcare market is projected to grow at more than 12 per cent CAGR, touching $71.3 billion by 2020.
According to Sameena Ahmed, Managing Director at Alpen Capital, "Development of the healthcare sector has taken centre stage in the GCC countries, as they witness an era of demographic transition accompanied by rising prevalence of lifestyle-related diseases."
With significant investments being made by the government and its various departments, and corporates involved with the healthcare segment, the UAE will continue to maintain its edge as a leading speciality healthcare hub in the Middle East region.

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