Diaa Salah
Promo Health Fz. LLC, UAE
Title: Current economic challenges and healthcare investment opportunities
Biography
Biography: Diaa Salah
Abstract
It is a misconception that the healthcare sector is recession proof and affected negatively by oil prices. The sector has seen its share of challenges in the last few years and is now expected to see a period of healthy growth 2016 and for successive 5 years. Continued investment by the governments as well as the private sector have improved healthcare infrastructure in GCC; however, it continues to lag the standards of developed markets. The per capita healthcare expenditure and healthcare expenditure as a percentage of GDP are still below that of developed economies. A number of new players and investors starting and going ahead, we expect to see some corporate merges leading to an overall improvement in the healthcare services offered in the UAE. We estimate demand for healthcare in the region to grow due to a rapidly growing population, rising income levels, increased insurance penetration and an increased prevalence of lifestyle-related diseases. The opportunity of Public-Private-Partnership is emphasized as the number of beds remains in line with the current GCC average and below the US and European averages. The gradual improvement of healthcare infrastructure and standards in the GCC along with increasing insurance penetration should see an increase in number of patients opting for treatments locally, thus seeing an increase in demand for hospital beds. The GCC Healthcare market is showing a rising figures of growth. The combined forces of regulatory pressure, funding reform (mandatory health insurance) and the growing impact of underlying health issues make this inevitable. The GCC healthcare sector presents some interesting opportunities for investors specially those who will play out of the box creating clusters for medical tourism and building innovative centers of excellence focusing in depth sub-specialties. While any investment in the healthcare sector has a longer payback period, there is a very strong demand and supportive government policies that makes for a good business case.