Secretary of State Martin van Rijn (Min. of Health Welfare & Sports) led a successful economic mission to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) from the 3rd until the 7th of April. This mission was aimed at organisations operating in the Life Sciences and Health- and Dutch Design sector. Van Rijn was accompanied by 30 companies, universities, training and research institutes. The mission contained a strong focus on the exchange of knowledge on public health, tackling obesity, education, ehealth and medical devices.
Children’s Hospital
In addition to various business meetings and seminars a visit to the brand new Al Jailila pediatric hospital was scheduled. The delegation has met with several ministers and representatives of the Health Authority Abu Dhabi and the Dubai Health Authority.
Public private partnerships
With a vision to develop a world-class healthcare infrastructure, the government of the UAE is expanding and upgrading the health system to match international standards. Today, lifestyle-related diseases such as diabetes, cancer and cardiovascular diseases are highly dominant in the UAE. These diseases are primarily propelling the healthcare sector in the coming years. Health Authority Abu Dhabi (HAAD) recently announced its five-year strategic plan, it is aimed at improving the quality of care, reducing the capacity gap, recruiting and training staff, emergency preparedness, cost-effective health spending, eHealth and disease prevention. The healthcare market in the UAE has an expected average annual growth of 12.7% to US $ 19.5 billion in 2020. In addition, 3% of the demand for hospital beds is expected annually from 2015 to rise to a demand of more than 13,800 in 2020. For the Dutch Life Sciences and Health sector the Gulf region has been very interesting. The UAE showed a strong interest in organisational management within the Dutch healthcare sector and a possible foundation has been created for public-private partnerships.
Opening Dutch Embassy
The delegation was present at the official opening of the Dutch Embassy in Abu Dhabi by the U.A.E. Minister of Culture and Knowledge Development, His Excellency Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan and Secretary of State Martin Van Rijn.
