Industry leaders are set to review the delivery of healthcare services and associated business processes in the Middle East at a conference to be held in Dubai next year.

The Leaders in Healthcare Conference to be held during the 39th Arab Health Exhibition and Congress will take place from January 27 to 30 at the Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre.

“The Middle East should move towards specialised care, but in parallel to developing effective primary care services which should form the basic foundation of a healthcare system,” said Professor Lord Darzi of Denham, Hamlyn chair of Surgery, director, Institute of Global Health Innovation, Imperial College London, UK, and a speaker at the conference.

“There is a need to build efficient and disease-specific models of prevention and specialised care that deliver quality outcomes in the most cost-effective way possible. One example of this is Qatar’s National Cancer Strategy. This looks at all aspects of cancer prevention and management drawing on robust international evidence, and is reshaping the treatment and support patients receive,” he said.

“The Middle East is also increasingly attracting international academic and clinical research talent and emerging as a location for biomedical research. We are starting to see this feed into the development of specialised care services and the creation of disease-specific research strategies,” said Darzi.

Science and technology will play a significant role in enhancing and enabling better healthcare provision in the future and managing spiraling healthcare costs, he said.

“For example, we are already seeing the impact that smartphones and digital applications are having as a cost effective and patient targeted method of managing chronic diseases like diabetes. These will change the landscape of primary and community care delivery over the next decade,” he added. - TradeArabia News Service