JEDDAH: The health-care sector is facing many challenges in the world generally and in the Gulf, including Saudi Arabia, in particular. The topic of health care and how the economy is linked to the world’s health was discussed at the health session, which began at 10 a.m. at the Jeddah Economic Forum (JEF) on its concluding day.
The session, with five prominent speakers, provided an insight into the situation of health-care systems in the world and linked economic solutions to improving the health system around the world.
The moderator, professor Khaled Al-Kattan, dean of the College of Medicine and acting vice president for development at Al-Faisal University, began the session by talking about public health and the challenges in Saudi Arabia and the Gulf. According to Kattan, around six percent of the GDP in Saudi Arabia and the Gulf is spent on health under the umbrella of the Ministry of Health. Health-care services provided by other sectors bring the amount to eight to 10 percent.
“Normally we would not only spend money on health-care providers but also pharmaceuticals, research, medical health, manpower and education for doctors and nurses. These issues have been severely affected by the global economic crisis and the recovery is important so we can maintain health-care services,” said Al-Kattan.
Dr. Tawfiq Khoja, director general of the Executive Board of the Health Ministers’ Council for the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) States, was the first speaker at the seventh plenary session. He said health had taken new dimensions in the last few years. “Health care has been linked to the economy, social and security factors and it has been looked at as an investment,” he said.
He requested that the public health infrastructure be better designed, resourced and funded to ensure the system’s stability for the future. “Without emphasis on the issue of public health, then we are not moving forward,” he explained.
Through health promotion and health protection, Khoja believes stability will be maintained in the health sector if the two work together. Health care can be improved by “increasing funding for public health services, expanding health care and increasing investment in research and collaboration with other sectors,” said Khoja.
“We are facing the problem of brain drain from GCC countries which is causing a loss of resources and stability of the healthcare system. We must be prepared to meet the needs, improve the use of technology and research between countries,” he said.
Dr. Wayne Holden, executive vice president of RTI International, said through research and statistics, the World Health Organization (WHO) and other associated entities believe that by 2030, 70 percent of deaths worldwide would be from chronic diseases in both developing and developed worlds.
“We will have a significant increase in chronic disease, especially in cancer and cardiology. However, infectious diseases, with the exception of HIV, will decrease,” he explained.
Holden said the global health economy was about 9 percent of the world GDP with the US having the largest GDP health expenditures.
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