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As in most of the world, the GCC and Indian Subcontinent are currently transitioning from one generation of healthcare payment mechanisms to the next. The forms and methods of this transition are multiple and yet they all share a series of intimidating obstacles: rising costs, growing and an increasingly mobile populations, not to mention an increased burden of disease and relatively new pandemics and epidemics such as diabetes and AIDS. What lessons can be learned from other parts of the world which have already passed through this transitional phase? Are there established mechanisms by which societies can deal with the transition? Is there an ideal mixture of private and public funding and, if not, how does one achieve the proper balance?
If a society spends $500 million per year
sending patients abroad for treatment, that is
$500 million less to help in the development
of local healthcare capacity. Unfortunately
that is not the only consequence of patient
export; others include: the demoralization of
existing medical staff, an inability to attract
high-quality physicians, limitation of access by
local medical educational institutions to
complex cases. All of these traumatic
effects are currently being felt throughout the
countries of the GCC. This round table will
explore in some detail both the mechanism of
the effects as well as the way to begin to
transition to an understanding of why this
export process needs to be discouraged.
At the core of the ongoing healthcare
development in one GCC market – that of the
United Arab Emirates – is a very special
educational institution: the Higher Colleges of
Technology (HCT) and its partner institution,
the Centre of Excellence for Applied Research
& Training. As in the industrialized world,
where the educational component early on
became the most important seed in the
development of an advanced healthcare
system, we can now see institutions like HCT
taking on that role in the countries of the
GCC. It is the belief of the Global Medical
Forum Foundation that these institutions are
the key ingredient in the humanitarian and
educational foundation of excellent
healthcare. They are the ones who can
ensure that healthcare is both a business and
a responsibility, a service and a commitment.
They are the creators of expertise and the
appraisers of the value of health. In this
closing address, we will hear a reaction to the
findings of the conference from the Director
of the Abu Dhabi Men’s College division of
HCT and learn how HCT itself is seeking to
contribute to the development of excellence
in healthcare in the region. |
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 Plenary Session:
Healthcare funding & payment mechanisms for the GCC 930 to 1100 hrs. |
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| Coffee Break1100 to 1130 hrs. |
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| Round Table 1:
Consequences of patient export1130 to 1300 hrs. |
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| Closing Address & Luncheon:
Where do we go from here?1300 to 1400 hrs. |
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GMF | 2.0
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