AN OVERVIEW OF HEALTH CARE SYSTEM IN UNITED ARAB EMIRATES:

Standards of health care are considered to be generally high in the United Arab Emirates,

resulting from increased government spending during strong economic years. The UAE has

a comprehensive, government-funded health service and a rapidly developing

private health sector that delivers a high standard of health care to the population.

The UAE has a population of approximately 9.4 million, out of which about 85% are

expatriates. The UAE's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is expected to expand 3.5% in 2019

compared to 2.8% in 2018, thanks to an Abu Dhabi-led $13.6 billion stimulus package

announced in June 2018 and a host of measures taken to improve the ease of doing

business across the country.

The creation of a world-class healthcare infrastructure is a top priority for the government

of the UAE and, as a result, the sector has advanced and expanded significantly during the

past few years. The World Health Organization determined that a third of adults in the UAE

are obese, and one out of five people live with diabetes. As the incidences of lifestyle

diseases increase, these populations, supported by relatively high levels of income, will

demand greater quality of healthcare. The government’s focus is on developing a healthcare

infrastructure to address this demand.

Healthcare in the UAE is regulated at both the federal and emirate levels. Federal-level

legislation dates to the 1970s and 1980s, and there are pending legislative reform initiatives

to facilitate the development of the healthcare industry. The UAE government is liberalizing

policies to attract foreign investments to improve the healthcare standard and boost the

healthcare industry.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has a national health service, which is overseen by the

Ministry of Health and Prevention. Abu Dhabi and Dubai have their own health authorities

— Health Authority Abu Dhabi (HAAD) and Dubai Health Authority (DHA) — that shape the

policies in their respective emirate.

The UAE’s health expenditure reached a value of