UAE among best countries in terms of good quality healthcare

To achieve various health-related goals set in the National Agenda and the UAE Vision 2021, all public and private hospitals in the UAE are to obtain accreditation by fulfilling all national and international standards, ensuring good quality services and an adequate number of medical personnel.

The move is in keeping with the directives of Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum. The UAE has declared its National Agenda indicators and set up executive teams to implement them.

The National Agenda aims to promote preventive measures, reduce instances of chronic diseases such as diabetes, cardiac diseases and cancer, cut down smoking and obesity in children, and work towards increasing longevity. It is aimed at putting the UAE in the list of the world’s best countries in terms of the quality of healthcare.

The year 2016 saw the UAE attain 28th position in the quality of healthcare indicator, up from 34th in 2015.

The Legatum Institute for Prosperity, which issues this indicator, covers 149 countries and measures the quality of healthcare services on three counts: fundamental healthcare, infrastructure and preventive healthcare, and the level of satisfaction with mental and physical healthcare services.

Results showed that most of the residents answered "no" when asked if they suffer from health problems that prevent them from doing their work. The response took the UAE to the top position internationally in this sub-indicator.

In case of another sub-indicator about the level of satisfaction about healthcare services, the UAE emerged in 9th position internationally, thus joining the top ten countries in the world whose people expressed satisfaction about the healthcare services. The results reflected that UAE society enjoys good mental and physical health.

The number of accredited health facilities in the UAE rose from 46.8 percent in 2014 to 55 percent in 2015. Accreditation is a UAE indicator to measure the level of compliance of public and private hospitals with national and international standards.

The International Diabetes Federation, IDF, put the number of diabetic patients in the UAE in 2015 at 19.3 percent of the population, making it the best state in the GCC after Oman, which accounted for 14.8 percent of its population who suffered from this condition.

The National Agenda is keen to bring down the instance of diabetes by promoting a healthy lifestyle, encouraging healthy eating habits, and encouraging sports.

The expected average healthy age indicator, which measures the average number of years for which an individual lives a healthy life, is issued by the World Health Organisation as part of its compilation of world health statistics covering 194 countries.