Arab world's leading healthcare event to commence tomorrow

According to the U.A.E. Ministry of Economy, the healthcare sector is expected to grow 16% annually and is on a "high growth curve." Healthcare expenditure is expected to rise to $11.9bn in 2015 from just $3.2bn in 2005. Currently, almost $14bn in healthcare-related projects are underway across the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), with the U.A.E. alone accounting for $2.9bn or roughly 20 percent of those expenditures.

Coinciding with the opening of the Arab Health is the release of a white paper by TCO Management Consulting (TCO), a UAE-based public sector consulting company, on building the right enabling environment for Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) in the UAE healthcare sector. According to the authors of the study, UAE public healthcare policy should focus on creating the right enabling environment for PPPs.

"The report outlines several policy recommendations for enabling an environment that would foster partnerships with the private sector in the UAE including developing a healthcare reform agenda that includes the private sector, establishing clear governance roles that will drive partnerships with the private sector and defining a quality baseline as a way to measure performance and incentivise the private partners," says Daniel Whitehead, a managing consultant with TCO and one of the authors of the study. "With the entire Middle East healthcare market gathered in one place, we felt that Arab Health would be a perfect platform to release our report."

In its 37th year, Arab Health welcomes four new country pavilions; Bulgaria, Chile, Hungary and Portugal. "The healthcare sector in the Middle East has continued to show a dynamic growth," says Simon Page, Managing Director - Life Sciences, Informa Exhibitions, organisers of Arab Health. "By acknowledging the current trends in the market and identifying the niche opportunities available for our exhibitors, Arab Health continues to be the preferred platform for our customers to market their products, garner intelligence, debate industry issues and network with each other."

The already established international country pavilions are once again out in force at Arab Health with many increasing their participant numbers year-on-year.

"Visitors will be able to see American technology, quality and innovation in person from more than 150 companies - a 12% increase from last year - at the US Pavilion at Arab Health 2012," says Carole Lotito, Director of Marketing and Communications at Kallman Worldwide. "Product launches at the US Pavilion will include Airon's pNeuton mini Transport Ventilator, as well as the launch of the Impact Instrumentation 731 ventilator series by JD Honigberg and Nova Biomedical's Nova Max Plus monitors, to name a few."

The Arab Health Congress continues to build on its conference portfolio offering a scientific and educational platform that comprises the world's largest CME (Continuing Medical Education) accredited multi-track series of conferences. This year the Arab Health Congress will be further enhanced with the addition of the Hematology track at Medlab, Biomedical Engineering, Medical Education, m+Health and Wound Care conferences.

Key speakers from the Arab region will include; Dr Mohammed Al Fouad Neel, Consultant Cardiac Surgeon at King Saud University in Riyadh; Professor Seyed Ali Malek Hosseini, Professor of Surgery and Transplantation at Namazi Hospital in Shiraz and Dr Ashok Rattan, Chairman of Medanta Medicity in Gurgaon, India.

One significant trend at this year's Arab Health is for both visitors and exhibitors to be much more interactive and creative in their planning around an event; the advent of social media of course being a major driver behind that. "In advance of an event Arab Health has now developed an online platform behind the physical event that allows pre-show interaction and planning between participants. Events are very social by their nature, so advances in social and online interaction are a very positive move for the events industry and for shows such as Arab health," says Page.

As a result, a series of free Social Media Marketing lectures will take place during Arab Health to introduce digital branding, e-marketing, social media usage and microblogging for healthcare industry professionals enabling exhibitors to develop an appropriate and efficient online healthcare social space.