Dubai Health Insurance Law to Allow More Residents to Benefit From European-Quality Pharmaceutical Care

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Dubai, United Arab Emirates: Dubai's mandatory health insurance law will allow more residents to benefit from European-quality medical care to manage chronic diseases, according to a leading Spanish pharmaceutical company based in the UAE, Cinfa.

Under the terms of the law, which rolls out next month for companies with more than 1,000 employees, Dubai residents must have access to healthcare of the highest quality relevant to the needs of the population. Chronic conditions such as heart disease and diabetes are spreading across the Middle East, caused by factors such as an ageing population, sedentary lifestyle and rising obesity, according to Deloitte's 2014 Global Health Care report.

The UAE is one of the region's most important healthcare markets, with the highest annual medicine sales per capita in the GCC, and the second-largest pharmaceuticals market at USD 1.56 billion as of 2012, according to Alpen Capital. The UAE is heavily dependent on imported medicines, which comprise about 85 percent of the total drugs market.

“Doctors, pharmacists and patients increasingly trust European-produced medicines as they are aware of the strict production and testing standards for drugs in Europe,'' said Khalid Amin, Regional Director in the UAE for Cinfa. “Cinfa's drugs are priced competitively by comparison with others on the market but retain that high quality of European-produced medicines. The implementation of Dubai's health insurance laws will mean that patients will have access to products that they trust.”

GCC governments are investing heavily in healthcare initiatives as part of plans to diversify their economies and enhance standards. Healthcare spending across the GCC is expected to rise to US$ 69.4 billion by 2018 from an estimated US$ 39.4 billion in 2013, with Qatar and the UAE the fastest growing markets, according to Alpen Capital.

Cinfa, which launched in the UAE in April 2013, is present in 50 countries worldwide and has introduced solutions for high cholesterol, hypertension and infections.