The healthcare landscape in the UAE and countries across the Gulf stands at the edge of a transformational shift. This goes beyond infrastructure growth, and involves the construction of a deeply connected care ecosystem that delivers the right care at the right time, anchored in the flow of data, digital innovation and patient-centred networks that deliver tailored healthcare solutions.
The crux of healthcare delivery today rests on connected care. Except for when we treat an acute episode, the answer to good health for a patient generally lies in their health history, which today we access through electronic medical records that give us a composite picture available to the patient, the provider, the specialist, the diagnostic laboratory and the pharmacy in one continuum.
Connected care is one of the great triumphs of modern health care and in 2026, we will be able to see it fine-tuned to a greater degree towards personalised care. That is the reason why health care in the Gulf has become one of the region’s most urgent and dynamic sectors, with the UAE taking the lead.
One driving force is the rise in the continuing country’s population, which makes it imperative to provide a healthcare solution that works for all – expatriates and citizens. According to the World Bank, the UAE’s population is expected to grow from 9.4 million people in mid-2017 to almost 11.1 million by 2030, with an average life expectancy of 79.8 years. The proportion of residents over the age of 65 is expected to increase from 1.1 per cent to 4.4 per cent over the same period.
This population growth is also combined with a high incidence of chronic diseases, a rising cost in treatment and medical inflation globally, and the increasing penetration of health insurance.
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