“Although demand side factors spell confidence, the industry faces several supply-side constraints. Low private sector participation, sub-optimal health infrastructure availability [...]]]>

The GCC healthcare industry is expected to grow threefold to $47 billion to $55bn in the next 10 years, Alpen said, but asserted that this growth will not be possible until the governments clear some roadblocks.

“Although demand side factors spell confidence, the industry faces several supply-side constraints. Low private sector participation, sub-optimal health infrastructure availability and acute shortage of human resource for all medical services are major obstacles for growth in the industry,” said the report.

Alpen called for public-private partnerships in the sector and said the steps taken by Abu Dhabi Health Authority set an example.

The investment bank called for a business-unit type framework for government sponsored hospitals and suggested setting up of new specialty and super-specialty hospitals. It emphasized on the need for an independent regulatory body to oversee the sector.

The evolutionary problems notwithstanding, the GCC healthcare sector is poised for a strong growth along with fundamental and structural changes.

“However, an efficient institutional framework and effective regulatory environment need to be prioritised to encourage private sector participation in the sector.”

Share/Save

Professionals should nominate projects or organizations that deserve recognition in line with the various awards categories, in order to enter [...]]]>

Middle East’s healthcare professionals will meet to form the judging panel for the 2nd annual Hospital Build Awards. This event recognizes excellence in the design, operation and management of healthcare facilities in the Middle East region.

Professionals should nominate projects or organizations that deserve recognition in line with the various awards categories, in order to enter the Awards.

The winners will be announced on the 1 June 2010 at the Hospital Build Middle East Exhibition & Congress, organized by IIR Middle East Life Sciences Division, which will run from 1 – 3 June 2010, at the Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre.

“The objective of the Hospital Build Awards is to recognize leaders in the healthcare industry who have devoted their efforts to building hospitals that help improve healthcare services and raise the bar in providing world class patient-care,” said Mr El Husseini.

Share/Save

The Dental Fair provided a perfect platform to discuss key dental subjects like teeth and gums, food and teeth, a child’s diet, fluoride and children, caring for wisdom [...]]]>

Boston University Dental Health Center announced today its participation at the Dental Fair 2010, as a member of the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Academic Medical Center (AMC).

The Dental Fair provided a perfect platform to discuss key dental subjects like teeth and gums, food and teeth, a child’s diet, fluoride and children, caring for wisdom teeth, aesthetic dentistry, stress and oral health, as well as first-aid for teeth.

Dr Steven Morgano, Chief Academic Officer of Boston University, said: “This initiative is in line with our vision to extend our support to raising the standards of qualified dental professionals”.

Dr. Fuzan Alkhalidi, Director – Operations and Finance, said, “We systematically ensure our operations at Boston University Dental Health Center are based on global standards as we seek to provide top of the range service to our consumers as well as the healthcare industry in general. We will continue our endeavor to maintain high standards across all our operations.”

The Boston University Dental Health Center – Dubai provides continuing education courses and participates in major events for dentists and dental specialists who seek to review modern concepts in the diagnosis and treatment of dental problems.

Share/Save

The industry hopes to export $1 billion by 2015, and although the minister’s announcement that 76 pharmaceutical plants are under construction, pushing the total number to 180, achieving that goal [...]]]>

Exports of Egyptian-made medicine reached LE 3.5 billion in 2009, over three times the expected figure of LE 1 billion, according to Health Minister Hatem El-Gabaly.

The industry hopes to export $1 billion by 2015, and although the minister’s announcement that 76 pharmaceutical plants are under construction, pushing the total number to 180, achieving that goal will take significant investment.

Investment Minister Mahmoud Mohieldin reported last week that total production of pharmaceuticals topped LE 4.1 billion in the first half of fiscal year 2009/10, up 20 percent from LE 3.4 billion last year.

Mohieldin met with members of the industry to review a plan to develop Egypt’s production facilities.

Magdy Hassan, chairman of the government pharmaceutical holding company Holdipharma for Pharmaceuticals, Chemical and Medical Equipment, gave figures that since fiscal year 2007/08, the sector has received LE 666 million in investments.

The next three years will see an additional LE 1,308 million, the bulk of which (LE 1,080 million) will go for the construction of the new factories and improvements to existing facilities.

Most of the remaining LE 300 million will be used to enhance production lines, 80 percent being self-financed and Holdipharma providing additional funds.

Mohieldin emphasized the need for public sector pharmaceutical companies to adjust their position relative to private firms, “in order to improve overall competitiveness in the industry.”

In the healthcare industry, competitiveness depends on technological innovation. Holdipharma’s inauguration last August of Egypt’s first cold chain pharmacy — a project requiring LE 3.5 million — represents “the model for Egyptian pharmacies in the coming 20 years,” Hassan told media at the time.

The facility, located in Bab El-Louq, is designed for biological products whose ideal storage temperature ranges between 2°C and 8°C from the point of manufacturing to administration.

“As biologics outnumber ordinary drugs, cold chains will be an integral part of storing and delivering drugs. A second pharmacy is planned to open in Alexandria,” Hassan continued.

Biologics are defined as medical products produced by biological rather than chemical processes, including blood and tissues as well as recombinant therapeutic proteins and gene therapy products.

Egyptian investment in the health industry includes a “medical city,” announced by Prime Minister Nazif last April, intended for construction on 500 feddans of land in Helwan.

Requiring an investment of LE 8 billion, the medical city is expected to generate 65,000 jobs, and will include 13 specialized hospitals, an international center for medical and pharmaceutical research, an elderly people’s home, an international nursing institute and a medicine college in addition to a hotel and residential area, according to information provided for international investors.

The search for consultants to help shape medical city’s strategy and vision closed on January 15, and it is expected to begin operation within the coming years.

In the meantime, Egyptian exports of traditional medical goods continue to grow. The boom in Egyptian exports resulted from recent legislation that shortened the time necessary for product registration from several years to about 12 to 18 months.

Osama El-Saady, chairman of Sanofi-Aventis SAE and head of Egypt’s Export Council for Medical Industries (ECMIH), named Sudan, Libya, Turkey, Iraq, Pakistan, India, Holland and eastern European countries as the main importers of Egyptian medical products, according to Business Monthly.

Egyptian production has traditionally made up about 30 percent of the market share for Middle Eastern pharmaceuticals, but the recent emphasis on the sector’s importance and the subsequent boom in production see it possibly becoming a global player, rather than a regional powerhouse.

Leading companies GlaxoSmithKline, Novartis and Pfizer all maintain production facilities in Egypt, although government support for local producers pushes the large multinationals away from over-the-counter products towards more specialized medical goods.

Although the medical industry represents a significant source of income for the Egyptian economy, basic healthcare for Egyptians remains an underfunded and overstressed resource. The government’s network of healthcare service facilities can accommodate about 50 percent of the population, providing approximately 4,000 primary healthcare centers and 600 clinics.

The Ministry of Health maintains about 1,300 hospitals, or 60 percent of the country’s bed capacity, while private hospitals serve approximately 15 percent.

Share/Save

The Lullaby Warmer has the potential to help caregivers improve access to quality infant care in developing countries [...]]]>

GE Healthcare, the healthcare business of General Electric Company (GE), as part of its ‘healthymagination’ initiative to reduce cost, increase quality and access to affordable healthcare worldwide, has introduced the Lullaby Warmer, now showcased at Arab Health 2010.

The Lullaby Warmer has the potential to help caregivers improve access to quality infant care in developing countries where nearly 90 per cent of the world’s births occur.

Globally, 139 million births occur each year, of which approximately 4 million neonates (less than 1 month old) die from mostly preventable causes. At least 50 per cent of global births occur in under-served settings where access to affordable technology remains limited. (Source: World Health Organization, Population Reference Bureau).

Regionally, the UAE fares better than other GCC nations in terms of under age 5 mortality rate at 8 per 1,000 live births, according to WHO statistics.

During the birthing process, an infant’s body temperature drops quickly once outside the controlled environment of the mother’s womb. Without the physiological mechanisms to fight off cold, the availability of warmth is the first line to survival for the newborn. The baby needs a device that can provide delicate warmth, emulating the mother’s womb.

GE’s Lullaby Warmer is designed and manufactured in Bangalore, India. The device is a bed with an overhead heater, showering the newborn with delicate warmth while the baby is cleaned after birth and checked for its first vital statistics. Remarkably simple to operate, even for a first-time operator, GE’s Lullaby Warmer will help improve access to care in the urban and semi-urban settings.

“The healthcare industry across the world is challenged by rising costs, disparity in access and persistent quality issues,” said Carrie Eglinton Manner, General Manager, Maternal-Infant Care, GE Healthcare. “We need new cost effective and reliable solutions to bridge the huge gap of unmet healthcare needs. Addressing this need will help us grow as well.”

“Healthymagination is our new business strategy that seeks to help people live healthier lives, support customer success and stimulate growth for GE,” Eglinton Manner said. “We invest in innovations that measurably reduce cost and improve access and quality of healthcare worldwide. That means we are committed to bringing to market high-tech and lower-cost products designed for specific local needs and process expertise to enable our customers to better serve more patients. The Lullaby Warmer on display today at the congress is an example of a healthymagination product.”

Arab Health, the Middle East’s premier healthcare expo is held from January 25 to 28, 2010, at the Dubai International Convention Center. GE Healthcare is the Platinum Sponsor of the exhibition and the Commercial Gold supporter of three key conferences on Anesthesia, Molecular Imaging & Nuclear Medicine and Middle East Imaging and Diagnostics, being held on the sidelines of the event.

Share/Save

Total healthcare expenditure in 2007 accounted for 9 per cent of the gross domestic product, or JD1.16 billion, according to the report.

The public sector spent about [...]]]>

Annual per capita expenditures on medical services in Jordan in 2007 stood at JD177.50, of which JD60.30 represents the cost of medicine, a Higher Health Council (HHC) report revealed Tuesday.

Total healthcare expenditure in 2007 accounted for 9 per cent of the gross domestic product, or JD1.16 billion, according to the report.

The public sector spent about 58 per cent of this figure, while private sector expenditures accounted for 40 per cent. UNRWA, however, spent only 1 per cent. Expenditures on drugs stood at JD345 million, according to the report, which is issued every two years.

Of the total annual spending, according to the report, 75% was spent on secondary medical care in hospitals, 18% on primary healthcare and 7% on training. As for the sources of healthcare financing, 54.9% came from the public sector, 40.2% from the private sector and 4.9% from donors.

HHC secretary general Taher Abu Samen said spending on healthcare services in Jordan is high compared to other developing countries, and called for measures to reduce this expenditure by focusing on prevention.

In other developing countries, per capita annual healthcare expenditure is as low as $15, he noted.

“Prevention programmes and primary healthcare services can help in reducing the country’s spending on health services,” Abu Samen explained, adding that programmes to reduce the prevalence of chronic diseases such as diabetes should be a top priority.

Around 70 per cent of all deaths in Jordan are related to diabetes, a healthcare expert said last month. Kamel Ajlouni, director general of the National Centre for Diabetes, Endocrinology and Genetics, noted that 75% of all hospital admissions are due to diabetes.

A recent study conducted by the center showed that 40 per cent of Jordanians suffer from diabetes, which is a leading cause of kidney failure, blindness, heart failure and retinal problems.

Share/Save

They also felt that the private sector should be allowed to play a more active role in the health sector in the country.

The survey [...]]]>

Majority of the respondents to a survey conducted among visitors at the recently concluded Qatar Health Exhibition and Congress here said that the healthcare sector in Qatar needs further improvement and diversification.

They also felt that the private sector should be allowed to play a more active role in the health sector in the country.

The survey was conducted by the organising committee through a questionnaire distributed among the visitors and as well as the professionals attending the conference and exhibition.

Majority of the respondents expressed satisfaction over the quality of the medical technology used in the country and the competence of the healthcare practitioners here.

The majority said they would prefer to be treated in Qatar rather than going abroad. Those who said they would seek treatment abroad cited the high cost of treatment here as the reason, apparently in the private sector.

Asked about the diseases that they are most concerned about, most respondents cited H1N1 and the hereditary diseases that are common in their families.

Share/Save

The new structure will make the nation’s healthcare system more efficient and competitive and represents [...]]]>

President HH Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Abu Dhabi has approved a law establishing the Federal Health Authority that will take over the executive responsibilities of the Ministry of Health. The Ministry will now focus purely on legislation and regulation.

The new structure will make the nation’s healthcare system more efficient and competitive and represents a key step in the government’s strategy to ensure excellent medical care for all. Federal Law no. 13 for the year 2009, establishes the Federal Health Authority as an autonomous body with independent budget and legal status.

“Separating the legislative and executive roles of the Health sector will guarantee the high quality levels of government medical services and competitiveness that we seek,” said HE Dr. Hanif Ali Hassan, Minister of Health and the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the new Federal Health Authority. “Its work will represent the priority status of healthcare for this government and its leadership”.

The Federal Health Authority will take over responsibility for running hospitals and other health facilities, therapeutic services, medical research, and the development of specialised skills to meet the best international standards.

It will also concentrate on raising competitiveness, developing hospitals as accredited teaching facilities, and promoting cooperation and partnerships between public and private healthcare providers. The Authority will have its headquarters in the Emirate of Sharjah and may establish facilities inside and outside the country as directed by its Board, which will be appointed by the Cabinet. Commenting further on the new Federal law, the minister said: “The establishment of this new Authority represents a great leap in the UAE’s journey towards better healthcare.

By implementing the latest methods and techniques and working according to international best practice, the Federal Health Authority will enable our health sector to compete on local, regional and international levels”.

Share/Save