Dubai: A new study by research company Mena Research Partners (MRP) has suggested that the UAE’s health care sector will grow by 60 per cent in the next five years.
The market, which is currently valued at Dh64 billion ($17 billion), will surge to over Dh103 billion ($28 billion) in 2021, driven by a shift in demand for preventive care, a rise in specialist medical services, more efficiently integrated health care solutions, as well as the high growth potential within specific medical device and pharmaceutical sub-sectors, the report found.
Medical tourism and mandatory insurance will also contribute to the sector’s growth.
As part of the UAE Vision 2021 National Agenda, the government has placed an added emphasis on the importance of preventive medicine, and the reduction of lifestyle-related diseases.
Structural shifts
The National Agenda also seeks to establish the country as a world-class health care system.
Anthony Hobeika, Chief Executive Officer at Mena Research Partners, said in a statement: “the health care sector in the UAE is witnessing structural shifts and, as a result, is changing fast to adapt to the demands of a younger, more health-conscious population asking for preventive care rather than curative care and, along the way, is more engaged in its own well-being.”
The report’s findings reveal that, while the health care market has been growing at over 10 per cent year on year since 2015 and is expected to continue in this trajectory, there will be an upsurge of 15 to 25 per cent in some subsectors across the three pillars of the market: a) health care providers — currently accounting for 76 per cent of the total market, b) medical devices — estimated at 6 per cent, and c) pharmaceuticals and life sciences — estimated at 18 per cent.
