Ithmar Capital report says GCC healthcare facing a series of potentially terminal threats
unless Governments engage with Private Sector
15,698 new beds and physicians required in the United Arab Emirates along with 31,396 additional nurses
The latest report in Ithmar Capital’s highly successful series of thought-leadership reports on private equity investment in the Gulf Cooperation Council Countries (GCC), reveals a total of 138,965 hospital beds; 140,334 physicians and 227,079 nurses will be required by 2050 to maintain current healthcare levels in the GCC states. The report calls on policy makers to engage with the private sector to expand, consolidate and support healthcare in the GCC.
Entitled “Expand, Consolidate & Support: Meeting the GCC Healthcare Challenge 2050”, the report was produced in partnership with Dow Jones Private Equity. Among others, it highlights how the UAE alone will need 15,698 new beds and physicians along with 31,396 additional nurses. A wide range of other extensive data and insights contained in this pioneering publication are also expected to form an invaluable paradigm in discussing and addressing the future of Gulf healthcare
The report also highlights how the economic development which has enabled impressive progress in GCC healthcare over recent years has simultaneously played a defining role in the proliferation of serious health problems associated with growing affluence, including diabetes and obesity.
“The requirement for healthcare provision to meet the needs of populations all over the world is undiminished in the face of unprecedented financial turmoil,” said Faisal Bin Juma Belhoul, Founder & Managing Partner, Ithmar Capital. “Remarkable progress continues to be made by GCC governments in putting this capacity in place, and as a result, the inhabitants of the Gulf can today look forward to life expectancies unparalleled in the history of the region. However, this achievement is now facing a series of potentially terminal threats caused by the very growth which has made it possible.
“Meeting the GCC Healthcare Challenge 2050 will require a consensus-driven healthcare infrastructure and regulatory environment which plays to the strengths of both the public and private sectors. This report sets out a compelling case for private sector involvement in facing the Healthcare 2050 challenge, with some of the foremost players in the GCC private equity industry putting forward their views.”
Belhoul summarises some of the key issues in the GCC Healthcare Challenge 2050:
· Expanding – The priorities of private sector players dovetail perfectly with those of a market-driven GCC healthcare industry. They can provide the capital accessibility and skill-sets to support flexible, properly targeted GCC healthcare expansion. This will be vital in addressing restricted access to capital markets, a pressing need for institutionalization and financial discipline, and previous failures in regional growth.
· Consolidating – GCC healthcare provision is institutionally fragmented. The private sector can assist in reducing over-capacity and excessive costs whilst maintaining optimal patient volumes and leveraging economies of scale. Consolidation will function as a key industry driver in the coming years, with the ‘rollup’ strategy an attractive medium-term prospect.
· Supporting – Intellectual fragmentation is also an issue, with GCC healthcare remaining reliant on imported expertise, whilst government projects to develop native talent are strictly long-term. The private sector offers the capital resources and global connectivity to support the continued provision of personnel to meet changing disease patterns and management responsibilities. The private sector is a partner to governments in GCC healthcare, rather than a competitor.
· Perhaps the most useful action which governments can take is simply to demonstrate trust, clear an appropriate space and allow investors to expand, consolidate and support within a responsive and intelligently constructed regulatory framework.
Khaldoun Haj Hasan, Co-Founder & Managing Partner, Ithmar Capital says the essential data and insights contained in the pioneering publication will form an invaluable basis for discussion to address the future of Gulf healthcare.
“Moving to meet the challenges of this future, and securing the GCC’s continued health and well-being, is a responsibility which the region cannot avoid – regardless of the uncertainties of the present,” he said.
The findings in this report are based on aggregate data from Dow Jones’ unique research processes. The data was collected through interviews with leading figures in the private equity sector, industry analysis and secondary sources.
