QUESTIONSANDANSWERS SIMON LEARY
Partner, Middle East Health Industries Leader & Government Sector Advisory, PWC
The Middle East region has a large young population with many suffering from lifestyle related diseases. Most are relying on a healthcare system that largely focuses on illness rather than wellness and primary care. Simon Leary, partner at PWC discusses the future of healthcare development in the Middle East.
Q. Healthcare costs in this region are continuing to escalate. What can be done to manage this whilst making sure that everyone has equal access to the care they need? A. Healthcare costs are growing faster than GDP just about everywhere. The ME region still lags behind more developed health economies currently spending between 0.5% and 5% of GDP on health compared to European countries spending 10%+ and the US nearing 20%. Nevertheless, the amount of waste in the system (estimates range from 20-40% of spend is wasted on over or misuse of health resources in most countries) means that there is significant room for improvement in terms both of where money is spent (more public health and primary care and less on hospitals) and how it is spent within individual institutions. An increased
Q. What are some of the common challenges faced by the Middle East healthcare sector? A. There are major challenges for the healthcare delivery systems of the region over the next twenty years on both the demand and supply sides of the equation. On the demand side these include the explosion of lifestyle related diseases ranging from type 2 diabetes to cancer. Add this to the demographic trend for larger, younger populations and increased longevity driven by prosperity and better technology, and the conclusion is that there will be more people, living longer with a greater burden of some diseases for longer. None of these challenges are well served by a delivery system focused on illness rather than wellness and dominated by hospitals ill equipped to support those with long-term conditions.
020 HOSPITAL BUILD & INFRASTRUCTURE MAGAZINE ISSUE 1 2012
focus on outcomes rather than inputs - be it pharma compliance or performance improvement within hospitals driven by a more focused and empowered payer function, will be key to achieving this.
Q. The Middle East is often criticised for unsustainable healthcare models. What are your thoughts on this? A. It is fair to say that the region is, on the whole, over-invested - as a proportion of the whole - in large hospital developments to the detriment of the front end of healthcare - public and primary care delivery systems. There is also a relative lack of rigour about the use of resources in general and mechanisms for encouraging users to behave appropriately when consuming health resources are not yet widely in evidence.
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