Leading professional service organisation, Ernst & Young, has announced the appointment of Andrea Longhi as the new Mena advisory healthcare leader.

The appointment reflects the growth of the healthcare industry in the region, a statement from E&Y said. There is an increased need by both the public and the private sectors for more specialised services that address their most complex healthcare challenges and provide sustainable solutions.

Tariq Sadiq, Mena advisory leader, Ernst & Young, said: “Longhi’s appointment signals our commitment to the growing healthcare sector in the region. Governments are the initiators of many new healthcare projects in Mena and his extensive experience with the public sector will be invaluable to our clients.”

Longhi has 17 years of consulting experience with a focus on strategy and performance improvement consulting within the healthcare and pharmaceutical industries.

He has provided advisory and implementation services to ministries, regulators, payers and hospitals, covering strategy, programmes, quality, productivity, IT and financial performance, the statement said.

Prior to joining Ernst & Young, Longhi was the director of commercial policy at the Department of Health (DH) in the UK, where he worked on the $8 billion ISTC clinical service programme, led the development of competition principles now used by the regulator, and led the NHS contracts development.

Prior to that he worked for eight years advising global pharmaceutical companies on commercial effectiveness, including a period at IBM, it said. – TradeArabia News Service