Policymakers must engage with the private sector to expand, consolidate and support healthcare in the Gulf Cooperation Council states, according to a report from private equity firm Ith
Policymakers must engage with the private sector to expand, consolidate and support healthcare in the Gulf Cooperation Council states, according to a report from private equity firm Ithmar Capital.
The report, entitled Expand, Consolidate & Support: Meeting the GCC Healthcare Challenge 2050, produced in partnership with Dow Jones Private Markets, found that a total of 138,965 hospital beds, 140,334 physicians and 227,079 nurses will be required by 2050 to maintain current healthcare levels in the GCC.
It highlights how the economic development which has enabled impressive progress in GCC healthcare over recent years has simultaneously played a defining role in the proliferation of serious health problems associated with growing affluence, including diabetes and obesity.
‘The requirement for healthcare provision to meet the needs of populations the world over is undiminished in the face of unprecedented financial turmoil. Remarkable progress continues to be made by GCC governments in putting this capacity in place, and as a result, the inhabitants of the Gulf can today look forward to life expectancies unparalleled in the history of the region. However, this achievement is now facing a series of potentially terminal threats caused by the very growth which has made it possible’, says Faisal Bin Juma Belhoul, founder and managing partner, Ithmar Capital.
‘Meeting the GCC Healthcare Challenge 2050 will require a consensus-driven healthcare infrastructure and regulatory environment which plays to the strengths of both the public and private sectors. This report sets out a compelling case for private sector involvement in facing the Healthcare 2050 challenge, with some of the foremost players in the GCC private equity industry putting forward their views.’
The findings in the report are based on aggregate data from Dow Jones’ research processes. The data was collected through interviews with figures in the private equity sector, industry analysis and secondary sources.
