Main content:
“A trend towards prevention and early treatment”
Published 03/13
"Basing business plans on long-term relationships"
The recent Arab Health congress and exhibition drew 45,000 healthcare professionals to Dubai. While healthcare is booming, the region faces major changes. HealthTech Wire talked to Shaffia Dabbous, editor of Arab Medico magazine, about market trends and her vision for Arab Medico.
The Gulf region has experienced unprecedented growth in the last few years. What are the current market trends in healthcare?
The enormous growth in the last few years has brought several problems to the region, due to a change in social habits. Diabetes and heart disease are steadily increasing and several countries have introduced prevention programs. We also see a growing trend towards early treatment of such diseases. In addition, the region is witnessing several projects to build many modern healthcare facilities featuring state-of-the art technology. While Dubai is often the biggest attraction, Saudi Arabia has quite an attractive budget to spend on healthcare. Today, the country offers patients some of the most modern facilities, such as the King Saud University Hospital and the National Guard Hospital in Riyadh, which has already eased the workflow through the implementation of the electronic medical record.
What were the most important topics presented at the recent Arab Health congress?
Some of the topics discussed in Dubai during the Arab Health congress included electronic patient records, telemedicine, high-definition technology for minimally invasive surgery and combined diagnostic technologies such as PET/CT. Both European and Asian companies were present at the exhibition, but while Asian companies have enjoyed long relationships with regional healthcare providers, many European companies are relatively new to the market in this region. In my opinion, basing business plans on long-term relationships would certainly help European vendors acquire a bigger share of the Middle East market.
What is your vision for Arab Medico?
Our magazine was founded 25 years ago and we just celebrated our silver jubilee last November. In the beginning, we concentrated more on transferring technology from other countries to the Middle East, but the last decade has brought many changes to the region. In the coming years, we will be featuring more congresses, exhibitions and projects taking place in the Arab World. In short, we will be closer to the reader. (AG)
Contact Shaffia Dabbous at s-dabbous@freenet.de
"Closer to the reader"
Arab Medico, an international journal for medicine, pharmaceuticals and hospital equipment, provides physicians and decision-makers in healthcare with information on the latest developments in all areas of medicine and pharmacy, as well as information about treatment opportunities and patients’ experiences worldwide. Practice-oriented articles cover modern methods in diagnostics and therapy. Arab Medico is published in Arabic and distributed throughout all Arab countries. Healthcare professionals can subscribe to the magazine at http://www.arab-medico.com
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