GE Healthcare is investing US$1 billion annually in research and development to bring to markets world-wide advanced technologies and solutions that have the potential to significantly help bridge the gap to healthcare access.
Today, 70 to 80 per cent of the resources in healthcare are devoted to managing symptom-based, advanced diseases. Shifting resources to "early" health and developing technologies that allow healthcare providers to diagnose disease at the earliest possible stage, when there can be many treatment options, is better medicine and makes economic sense. GE’s “Healthcare Re-imagined” vision promotes the “early health” model of care – helping clinicians re-imagine new ways to predict, diagnose, inform and treat disease, so their patients can live their lives to the fullest.
“Healthcare spend in the Middle East, Africa, Central Asia and Turkey (MEACAT) region is only about 6 per cent of the GDP, which is considerably lesser than that in developed countries,” said Isam Moursy, General Manager at GE Healthcare for the MEACAT region. “There are enormous discrepancies in healthcare delivery and basic needs are left uncovered. Incremental needs and the cost of equipment replacement place pressure on both the public and private sectors.”
With the Middle East experiencing a period of significant demographic change including massive population growth and increasing urbanization, there is a huge and unprecedented demand on its healthcare infrastructure, technology and expertise. “The Middle East has new market drivers today such as a strong private sector, the emergence of health tourism, enterprise selling and shifts in health insurance policies. In parallel, the trend in manageable disease conditions such as obesity, diabetes and stress are on the rise. GE’s ‘Healthcare Re-imagined’ approach encourages healthcare providers and the public to consider shifting their focus from late disease to early health, where there can be many more treatment options,” said Moursy.
The healthcare market for the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region and South Asia, excluding medicine and pharmaceuticals, is currently estimated at US$10 billion per annum. However, according to a recent United Nations report, most MENA and South Asian countries spend less than 5 per cent of their annual GDP on healthcare services. Countries such as Saudi Arabia and Kuwait invest 4.3 per cent and 3.8 per cent of the GDP respectively. “This indicates a strong potential for growth of the healthcare industry in the region,” said Moursy.
GE’s “Healthcare Re-Imagined” vision has practical applications with modern disease conditions. “Cardiac patients, for example, have a 45 per cent chance of survival if treatment begins at onset of symptoms. An ‘early health’ model using diagnostic tools such as cardiac biomarkers, non-invasive diagnostic imaging, targeted therapies, and IT-based disease management can nearly double the survival rates from cardiac disease,” said Moursy.
He added: “Similarly, costs for late-stage treatment of breast cancer (stage four) can be five to six times higher than treatment following early discovery in stage one. Early screening solutions enable physicians to intervene before breast cancer advances on its deadly course.”
GE has expanded its presence in the Middle East region by opening its UAE corporate headquarters for GE Healthcare operations. “The UAE, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait are the largest contributors to our growth in the region. Increasing healthcare demands in these markets is due to the rapid population growth and infrastructure changes. GE also has several joint ventures in the region that significantly contribute to the strong pace of growth of our business,” said Moursy.
At Arab Health 2007, the Middle East’s largest healthcare exhibition to be held from January 29 to February 1 at the Dubai International Exhibition Centre, GE is showcasing its advanced technologies and solutions and strategic partnerships at Hall 4, Stand D20. GE will launch its latest innovations that have the potential to help Middle East healthcare providers realize the ‘early health’ model of care.
Note to Editors
About GE Healthcare:
GE Healthcare provides transformational medical technologies that are shaping a new age of patient care. Our expertise in medical imaging and information technologies, medical diagnostics, patient monitoring systems, drug discovery, and biopharmaceutical manufacturing technologies is helping clinicians around the world re-imagine new ways to predict, diagnose, inform and treat disease, so their patients can live their lives to the fullest.
GE Healthcare's broad range of products and services enable healthcare providers to better diagnose and treat cancer, heart disease, neurological diseases, and other conditions earlier. Our vision for the future is to enable a new "early health" model of care focused on earlier diagnosis, pre-symptomatic disease detection and disease prevention. Headquartered in the United Kingdom, GE Healthcare is a US$15 billion unit of General Electric Company (NYSE: GE). Worldwide, GE Healthcare employs more than 45,000 people committed to serving healthcare professionals and their patients in more than 100 countries. For more information about GE Healthcare, visit our website at www.gehealthcare.com.
