Patient engagement for health policy shaping in Egypt, Saudi Arab and UAE

SDG 3 targets to ensure healthy lives and promote wellbeing to all at all ages, in order to do so patient engagement is envisaged
as an edge to reach out to the poorest of poor and also becoming means in fulfilling the aim of universal health coverage, access
of essential health services, medicines, immunization therapies and vaccine to all.

Innovation in patient engagement approach is creating better ecosystem for health care policies implementation. Primary care is
the potent stage for interaction of patient with health care service provider and medical extension, this platform provides patients
to know their health in better way and reduction in their out-of-pocket expenditure. This not only improves health outcomes but
also enhances learning, awareness of patient. Multi drug resistant is becoming one of the great challenges for current world as
patients are not aware of consumption of drug resulting in generation of superbugs. Five- steps model (inform me, engage me,
empower me, partner with me, support my e-community) of patient engagement framework has been created by National eHealth
collaborative (NeHC), this helps the providers, payers and health care entities to interact with patients.

Egypt
Egypt has highest rate of neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) among middle east and north African countries Due to a lower
middle-income country with high levels of unemployment, societies are suffering from deficiency of hygiene and health care
service. People are excessively reliant on financing of their treatment because more than 60% of their health expenditure is paid
out of pocket. Egypt has pluralistic health care system which consists of involvement of public and private organization with
many financial intermediaries given below

• Health Insurance Organization (HIO)

• Curative Care Organization (CCO)

• Ministry of Health and Population (MoHP)

• Ministry of Finance

• MOSA/Public Authority

• Health development partners Group (DPG)

Egypt health models and policy mandates

• Egypt initiated a national programme to eliminate, lymphatic filariasis as a public health problem that is based on mass
drug administration in conjugation with albendazole to cover 80% of the target implementation units (IUs)

• MoHP has significantly expanded the Program of Treatment at the Expense of State (PTES), which extends financial
assistance to all Egyptian citizens

• Social Health Insurance (SHI) law which ensure adequate and sustainable funding for health and reduces the share of
out-of-pocket expenditures

• Sustained health system support helped in achieving the high immunization coverage

• Community awareness of neglected tropical disease and its control measures and offering anti-helminthic drugs free of
charge and deworming campaign

• Development of health information system by MoHP with the help of civil registration and vital statistics (CRVS)

• Digital and social media-based broadcasting to increase the knowledge of patient about epidemiology, prevention, and
control activities for NTDs

Saudi Arab
Saudi Arab has been flourished due to its oil economy which blessed its health care infrastructure development. Government of
Saudi Arab established ministry of Health (based on decentralised healthcare system) as a lead government agency responsible
for the management, planning, financing and regulating of the health care sector both public as well as private. Saudi Arabia’s
health system works on mix model of state-funded welfare economy with a gradual increment of the share of the private sector.
Gradual shift in state funded model to open market led economy increases the competition among many peer organisations this
helps in diversifying the economic burden of government and also develop diversified information system. Different autonomous
government bodies and hospitals which Participating in public engagement are-

• Bureau of the Attorney General, raise the standards of the healthcare system by giving universal health care services to
its people with the “health-for-all”

• The Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs operates institutions for the mentally ill and custodial homes for orphans

• King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre

• Security forces medical services

• Army Forces Medical Services

• National Guard Health Affairs

• Ministry of Higher Education Hospitals (168 teaching hospitals)

• ARAMCO (formerly Arabian-American Oil Company) Hospitals

• Gulf Cooperation council joint procurement system

• Royal Commission for Jubail and Yanbu Health Services

• School Health Units of the Ministry of Education

• Red Crescent Society

Saudi Arab health models and policy mandates

• National Transformation program for health system strengthening, health security and to improve public private
partnership

• Adoption of ‘e-Participation’ to provide interactive communication between the government and citizens, the business
sector, and all other parties

• KFSH&RC is Saudi Arabia’s first integrated digital hospital, by monitoring digital footprints of patient it became one
of the first organizations in the region to have an EHR (Enhanced patient experience). The captured patient’s data can
be coupled with genome project by using predictive tools and analytics that transforms the patient focused care into
personalised care. KFSH&RC provides health education and awareness to the patient throughout the care cycle.

• Field Epidemiology Training Program

• Crisis and Emergency Risk Communication model aimed to explore MOH’s use of Twitter as a real time
communication and the public’s engagement during different stages of the COVID-19 pandemic in Saudi Arabia.
Statistical analysis played an important role in analyzing the risk and situation of outbreaks.

• Public engagement with Secondary data analysis of dataset obtained from the expanded program of immunization
department.

• Implementation of CRS (Congenital Rubella syndrome) surveillance.

UAE
UAE ranked with the best healthcare sector in middle east due to its growing economy. Dubai & Abu Dhabi was ranked as 2nd
and 3rd by world bank for medical tourism destination in the region. UAE vision 2030 focuses in growth of the medical sector
which will be dependent on large investment in technology. UAE government introduces niche healthcare sector skills due to
occurrence of life style diseases. The global shortage of health care providers is proving to be significant challenge Infront of
government in areas such as maternity, paediatrics, elderly care, fertility, one-stop primary care centres, and diabetes, making it
one of the biggest challenges for healthcare policymakers in the UAE. Important entities as a health service provider and
regulators in UAE are following

• The Ministry of Health and Prevention (MOHAP)

• Health Authority Abu Dhabi (HAAD)

• The Dubai Health Authority (DHA)

• The Federal Health Insurance Authority (FHIA)

• Abu Dhabi Health Services Company (SEHA)

• Mubadala Healthcare

UAE health models and policy mandates

• Mobile clinics equipped with mammography technology are deployed in several shopping centres in Dubai and the
Northern Emirates to raise public awareness on the importance of early detection of breast cancer, diagnosis, treatment
and rehabilitation by MoHaP.

• To ensure protection from infectious diseases during travel, MoHaP equips travel health clinics with vaccines against
infectious disease.

• To provide better healthcare services, UAE has opened healthcare cities which have clinics of various specialties.
Presently, there are three healthcare cities in the UAE. They are: Sheikh Khalifa Medical City, Dubai Healthcare City,
Sharjah Healthcare City.

• UAE is focusing towards digital front door strategy by using data as asset for development of health policies and its
transformation and optimization.

• UAE government adopted ‘The UAE e-brainstorming session’ which is the country’s first technology to mine
collective intelligence based on citizen engagement by using popular social media platforms.

• Dubai Health Authority (DHA) and Proximine developed AR ‘virtual assistance’ to UAE doctors by giving them
‘hands-on’ virtual assistance in real time, no matter where they are in the world.

• DHA TruDoc 24x7, is on demand telemedicine service provision through which patients can speak directly to a doctor
at any time via phone or video chat this can be the future of real time patient engagement.

• DHA is trialling a new and fully automated way of getting medicines from their point of origin into patient’s hands
Through advanced robotics the system can scan prescriptions and delivering the required medicine.