Health facilities continue to improve in Dubai with new figures showing more doctors are available to treat patients.
The number of physicians now registered in Dubai has grown to 33 per 10,000 people – a higher ratio than the UAE as a whole (27 per 10,000) and nudging closer to the Swedish level of 39.
International accreditation of health facilities in Dubai have also increased to 96 per cent, up from 80 per cent in 2015.
A health investment strategy was recently announced by Dubai Health Authority to encourage growth, with a restructuring to include a specific department to deal with health insurance.
Dubai Health Insurance Corporation is now responsible for managing and overseeing health insurance services, according to relevant legislation.
“Our aim is to foster and promote health investment in areas where there are lack of services or where there are opportunities for growth,” said Humaid Al Qutami, DHA Director General.
“Several countries have dedicated healthcare investment promotion agencies and I feel it is a better and more efficient way to operate.
“An investment strategy helps prevent oversupply, leads to availability of health specialists across various disciplines and fosters the growth and development of specialised and super-specialised health services.”
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In May, a law was announced to regulate medical services in Dubai, drafted to help the DHA achieve its objectives of ramping up standards.
It hopes to attract more medical tourists with improved transparency and pricing structures for private healthcare facilities.
The medical sector in Dubai is one of largest sectors with 31 hospitals, around 3,700 private health clinics that have around 35,000 employees with more than 8 million patient visits annually in the private sector.
Additionally, there are 40 DHA governmental health facilities.
“There was a need to have a separate corporation for health insurance given the scope of service and the vast number of people it affects,” Mr Al Qutami said.
