Dubai: The private sector will continue to play a big role in the health sector in Dubai and now provides 54 per cent of outpatient services in the emirate, a senior health official said yesterday.
Giving details of forthcoming projects totalling Dh3.6 billion by the Dubai Health Authority (DHA), Director General Qadi Saeed Al Murooshid said at a press conference that these will add 650 beds to meet the needs of the emirate.
He said 50 per cent of the hospital beds are provided by the private sector. The director general said the authority cannot meet the health care demand on its own and will seek private sector investment.
"The private sector will help in meeting the challenges," he said. "We will complement each other."
Al Murooshid said DHA's aim is that by 2015 the private sector will operate 70 per cent of the hospitals in the emirate.
Asked about the high cost of medical treatment in Dubai, Al Murooshid said when there is more supply in the market, things will change.
Among the upcoming DHA projects are the 93-bed Al Hatta Hospital, which will be operational within the next two months.
The Al Maktoum Hospital in Jebel Ali, set for completion by 2012, will have 300 beds. There is also the 200-bed Al Jalila Children's Hospital, which will be located at Al Wasl Hospital and is expected to be completed next year.
The dedicated paediatric hospital is the only ongoing project of its kind in the region and will cater to children up to 14 years of age and in some cases up to 16.
Al Murooshid also said the DHA will soon open three new health centres this year.
He said said the DHA will focus on specialised services and will work with the private sector to support them in cases where the investment is big.
Department makeover
The psychiatric department at the Rashid Hospital has been upgraded to meet the growing demand.
Dr Mohammad Fayek, consultant and head of the department, said yesterday more than 6,000 Emiratis and more than 1,400 other nationalities are treated at the hospital's outpatient clinic every year.
He said there is still a stigma against mental illness and many patients are not being treated.
