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More healthcare facilities planned for New Dubai

DUBAI — More healthcare facilities are being planned for New Dubai areas as part of the Dubai Health Authority’s (DHA) healthcare expansion plans.

The DHA’s Capacity Service Plan will pinpoint expansion of existing facilities and manpower as well as the future needs for the emirate, according to a senior official. The capacity plan is part of the Dubai Health Strategy that will look into improving all aspects of healthcare during 2011-2013.

“As of now, we know that healthcare facilities are concentrated mostly in Deira and Bur Dubai and New Dubai does not have enough healthcare facilities,” said Dr Laila Al Jasimi, CEO of Health Policy and Strategy at the DHA.

“We are trying to increase and encourage investment in the new areas including free zones,” she said.

The capacity plan will also include surveys of existing projects that can give an insight into the future health needs of Dubai. “We also have land allocated by the government for increasing healthcare services in residential areas,” she explained. “We are looking into the existing and the future projections required which will show us new services to be looked at and the existing ones that are not required anymore. Until then, we encourage investment.”

Dr Laila said the authority had already started investing in such projects and many had been developed such as Al Mizhar, Nad Al Hammar and Al Barsha. Currently, three private sector hospitals are also under construction – the Saudi German Hospital, the Al Garhoud Hospital and the Al Zahra Hospital. The plan is based on the first-ever detailed study on the healthcare needs of the emirate that is already underway.

“We are looking at different geographical areas of Dubai to assess how many healthcare services we have and if they fulfil the future volume of the healthcare systems that the emirate would require,” said Dr Laila while talking about the study.

She said results from the study will also help in promoting healthcare investment both in the government and private sector. “To direct proper investment in healthcare in Dubai, we have to understand the service,” she said.

“Working in this sector, I have seen that there has been an increase in demand of healthcare investments despite recession,” said Dr Laila.

Among the strategy’s initiatives for the last quarter of 2011, the authority will start implementing policies to reduce the burden of communicable diseases in Dubai, smoking among youth, workplace injuries, overseas treatments and to increase physical activity among school children. “Policies have never been there to support the educational campaigns that we have been carried out and this is what we plan to develop,” said Dr Laila.

She also said that since Dubai is a tax-free society, there will be no taxation on tobacco products. “We are reviewing certain regulatory measures.” The authority is also developing a surveillance reporting system where all workplace injury data is collected by one entity. The DHA is also studying how to increase physical activity in schools.

Talking about medical tourism, Dr Laila said it was imperative to develop a strong healthcare system comprising accredited facilities and credentialised professionals.

asmaalizain@khaleejtimes.com