The purpose of this report is to give Dutch businesses an insight in Abu Dhabi's healthcare sector and help them to identify possible business opportunities. While the focus of this report is on Abu Dhabi, we will use information on the whole UAE where there is no Abu Dhabi-specific information available. The development of the national healthcare sector is one of the key focus points of the UAE's Government Strategy. In The Highlights of the UAE Government Strategy 2011-2013 one can read
the following about the Government's view on healthcare:
The UAE Government aims to ensure access of all citizens and residents to primary healthcare, and to improve the quality of healthcare services provided in the country to global standards. It also seeks to reduce lifestyle diseases and increase the readiness of the health system to deal with epidemics and health risks. In order to achieve its goals the UAE government is increasingly looking to Public Private Partnerships (PPP). In Abu Dhabi the move towards PPPs, which started in 2006, is changing the healthcare landscape in the Emirate. Examples of high-profile partnerships which seek to bring western technology, practices, and standards to Abu Dhabi are the Cleveland Clinic and John Hopkins. These two renowned private players are now managing hospitals in Abu Dhabi under long-term management contracts. The rapidly growing population as well as chronic lifestyle induced diseases and injuries are likely to be the main drivers for healthcare services in Abu Dhabi, and the UAE as a whole, for the coming years. The UAE is looking to improve both its hard and soft healthcare infrastructure and is increasingly looking to private players to share the burden and speed up the proces.