The Healthcare Sector of the United Arab Emirates - Case Study Example

Executive summary The healthcare sector of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is considered to be among the best in the world. Over the past few years, the healthcare industry has shown tremendous growth mainly because of an increasing population, the increase in incidences of lifestyle diseases such as obesity and diabetes as well as due to the absence of internationally accepted healthcare infrastructure. The government has often increased its spending on healthcare in the past years with as much as US$437being spent from the year 1996 to 2003.Due to unprecedented efforts in the improvement of healthcare, healthcare services are currently provided free of charge to all citizens of UAE. The major cause of death in UAE has been associated with diseases affecting the heart causing more than 25% of the total deaths. List of tables Table 1:prevalence of lifestyle diseases among males and females in UAE Table 2:projected population growth in UAE in the next five years List of figures Figure 1:prevalence of diabetes in UAE according gender and age(males) Figure 2:prevalence of diabetes in UAE according to gender and age(females) Introduction The increased level of per capita income of the United Arab Emirates has seen the healthcare sector improve in terms of service provision to its population. Hospitals and health facilities have had the largest share of the government revenue in the past years and the trend is expected to continue in the quest to improve services offered by the health sector. There is also a strategy by the government to link all public hospitals to its citizens in order to increase faith in these facilities. However, the healthcare provided in UAE is very expensive because of the requirement by the government for each citizen to use insurance cards therefore paying more for the services offered (Connell, 2008). The purpose of carrying out this study was to analyze the public healthcare sector in the UAE in terms of its growth and developments in the past few years with regard to improvement in facilities as well as the services provided therein. The proper analysis carried out was to bring to light the methodologies used in the public health sector and therefore provided an overview of the current situation of healthcare in UAE. The study was majorly patient based and therefore it applied an explanatory approach of the conditions existing between the healthcare sector and patients. Due to the fact that some of the materials used here are secondary sources of information, the data depicted was extracted from general websites and articles approved by health authorities. The methodology used for carrying out the research included ways of assessing the policies, guidelines and the strategies used in the regulation of healthcare services as well as ways to link the regulation of healthcare services to individual patient, population and health professionals. Guidelines about strategies for regulation of public health care sector Two major emirates were implemented to take up the responsibility of regulating the public health sector, namely the Abu Dhabi and the Dubai emirates. The ministry of health and the recently formed Emirates Health Authority (EHA) are also involved. In spite of their presence, there still exists a difference in the healthcare systems currently in UAE. The study was carried out tom analyze the guidelines put in place by the two health authorities for the purpose of regulating services offered by the public health sector. The health Authority of Abu-Dhabi (HAAD) has come up with policies that include licensing, authorization, operational compliance and regulatory requirements for clinicians and health facilities. On its part, the study of the Dubai Health Authority involved the analysis of the planning of health care, the promotion of healthcare promotion and comprehensive healthcare policy in Dubai healthcare facilities. It also included the assessment of medical research and education in Dubai. In addition, the study also involved the analysis of the rules, standards, guidelines and policies that are necessary for the implementation of healthcare standards under the centre of health care planning and safety (CPQ). Regulation of pharmaceuticals in UAE involves the implementation of basic legal requirements that govern the import, manufacture and distribution of pharmaceutical products. These regulations are set forth in law No. 4 that excludes anyone from any involvement in pharmaceutical profession without a valid license. Moreover, the law also prohibits unauthorized opening of pharmacies, pharmaceutical stores or factory dealing with pharmaceuticals. The ministry oh health has also established a committee that oversees the registration of medicines, pharmaceutical companies and medicine pricing. The ministry of health has the sole responsibility of developing procedures and requirements for registration. In addition, the regulation of medical devices is also done by the ministry. Medical device manufacturers should be registered with the ministry for them to be allowed to market their products in UAE. On the other hand those wishing to import medical devices must engage local distributors who have medical sores that are duly registered. According to the ministry, medical devices are classified into Class 1,class 2a class 2b, class 3 and active implantable devices(oxford Business Group,2007).in the UAE, medical devices should follow procedures of registration, classification and evaluation that are consistent with the Global Harmonization Task force for medical devices (Latham &Watkins,2011). Linking regulation of health service to patient The main purpose of regulating the public health sector is to ensure that the citizens of UAE receive the best medical services from all health facilities. As a result, there should be a linkage between the regulators of health services and the patients to ensure a conducive relationship between the two. To achieve this, the health systems have come up with ways of availing health information to their patients. For instance, data concerning the public health system is obtained from the UAE health system profile that is available in the various departments including the department of primary health care, dentistry and nursing. The data contains the lists of medical institutions such as hospitals, health centers, specialty clinics general clinics, diagnostic centers, the population and the number of practitioners involved and is normally availed to the general public on an annual basis. On the other hand, data concerning the health market is usually obtained from the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) office and its main contents include health care initiatives, healthcare authorities, medical equipment and technology, healthcare infrastructure, healthcare professional recruitment, information technology as well as healthcare insurance and the privatization of healthcare. Moreover, the government also provides to the patients information on healthcare professionals including their education levels, specialization, up skilling and relevant training during their respective practices in healthcare and licensing primarily on evidence of practice and documentation. The public uses the information provided in this way to assess the level of professionalism and confidence in the healthcare sector. The knowledge of this information helps to bridge the gap between the public and the health sector based on strategies and policies on healthcare workforce and the required services, and the required services, quality of education and the course done. In addition, the GCC office also provides information on public healthcare expenditure and qualitative sector assessment as well as socioeconomic indicators of the entire UAE region. Diabetes analysis in UAE Diabetes has been described as the most prevalent among the lifestyle diseases common in the UAE with almost 25%of Emirati nationals falling victims to it. Since the year 2009, the government has spent a lot of money in the fight against this condition up to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars. The study of the treatment of diabetes in the region can be used to determine the quality of healthcare services offered in UAE. The UAE has been classified as second in the world in terms of diabetes prevalence. There are two types of diabetes common in UAE namely type 1 and type 2 diabetes (Oxford Business Group, 2008). Type 2 diabetes is the most common one and it has been projected that by 2020 an estimate of 32% of the entire UAE adult population may have diabetes that may cost the government an approximate of $8.52 billion if the current trend continues. This will be translated to mean that one individual in every three will be affected. Currently, the prevalence of diabetes in the UAE is estimated to be similar in both men and women with about 13 % of men and 12% of women affected. In addition, there is also a condition known as pre-diabetes that affects almost 14%of the entire adult population with women having a greater risk than men. Figure 1 Source: United Health group modeling, 2010 Figure 2 Source: United Health group modeling, 2010 Despite the huge costs of treating diabetes, there is still hope of eradicating or reducing its prevalence through the employment of different treatment strategies and appropriate interventions to delay or prevent progression to type 2 diabetes. By so doing the health of the population can be improved and thus the burden of huge healthcare costs reduced. Different diabetes treatment methods have been used in UAE among them weight loss surgeries such as gastric bypass surgery for the purpose of reducing weight as most cases of diabetes are weight-related. Evaluation of the public health care sector The government of UAE has been very keen in devising methods of improving the public health sector by employing ways that ensure a universal access of all its citizens and residents to primary health care, and improving the services offered in health facilities to international standards. In its mandate, the government has acted to ensure that there is a reduction in prevalence of lifestyle diseases such as obesity and diabetes by creating awareness for readiness of the health systems to deal with epidemics and health risks that may occur such as the H1N1 epidemic that occurred in 2009. Universal access to healthcare services has been ensured by providing health services in all regions, developing health insurance schemes whereas epidemic and health risks have been reduced by promoting ways of lifestyles that reduce prevalence of diseases, the strengthening of preventive medicine and creating a spirit of readiness in dealing with epidemics that may occur. These efforts by the government have ensured that the quality of healthcare provided in the UAE is among the best in the whole world. Analysis of information obtained from research According to the information obtained from the research, it was shown that the male population is more prone to lifestyle conditions than the female population as shown in table 1 below. Table1 Cardiovascular condition Total prevalence (%) Prevalence in men (%) Prevalence in women (%) Obesity 36 33 38 Hypertension 17 24 12 Diabetes 21 22 20 High lipids 36 50 26 smoking 11 24 0.8 Source: Preliminary analysis of Weqaya sample of 112’301 UAE Nationals in the Emirates The projected growth in population was projected for five years and it was shown that the trend was in the increasing side indicating that the government may face a hard task in providing quality healthcare to its citizens. Table 2 shows the trend. Table2 year High(million) Low(million) 2011 1'919 1'897 2012 1971 1907 2013 2040 1907 2014 2113 1916 2015 2181 1925 Source: 2010 – 2015: SCAD population estimates Conclusion and recommendation It is very wise of the government of UAE to ensure the health of its citizens by its direct involvement in the provision and regulation of healthcare services. This is the main reason behind the success of the health strategies employed in UAE. However, both the public and private health sectors should come together and design ways that can reduce the prevalence of lifestyle diseases among them diabetes. The best way of cutting the trend of the increasing diabetes crisis is the establishment of initiatives that are mainly community-based through the involvement of both the public and private sectors. These initiatives may include public education about diabetes, early detection and prevention of the disease as well as ways of managing the disease once it has set into its chronic condition to avoid complications in the affected patients. The overall impact of these strategies could be the reduction of the burden of the disease in the population coupled with lowering economic impact on the health sector. It is also important for the government to consider methods of ensuring that services provided in the health sector are affordable to all members of the population. References Connell, J. (2008). The global health care chain: from the Pacific to the world, vol 12. New York: Taylor &Francis Kebede, E. (2011). Global health disparities: closing the gap through good governance. New York: Jones & Bartlett publishers Latham & Watkins (2011). Healthcare Regulation in the UAE. Maryse, A & Samaha, H. (2004). Public health in the Middle East and North Africa: meeting the Challenges of the twenty-first century. New York: World Bank publications Oxford Business Group. (2008). The Report: Dubai 2008.London: Oxford Business Group   Oxford business Group. (2007). The Report: Abu Dhabi 2007.London: Oxford Business Group Read More