DUBAI, 10 June 2008 — Dubai Health Authority (DHA) assured yesterday that everyone living in Dubai will have access to a good and affordable health service that meets their basic medical needs.
“We have been working hard to build and develop a health care system for the future. Our aspiration is to become one of the world’s top health providers and to build Dubai’s reputation as a regional leader in health care provision,” said Qadhi Saeed Al-Murooshid, director general of the DHA.
News about the DHA’s future health strategy plans was announced at a function at Jumeirah Emirates Hotel in Dubai. The function, which was attended by over 500 people, follows a yearlong extensive consultation and public engagement program.
Dubai has the majority of the UAE’s foreign workers and is home to 1.2 million expatriates. “The DHA will be responsible for delivering a health strategy that protects and improves the quality of care for everyone in Dubai. We will promote international accreditation of all health care services and promote partnerships between the public and private sectors, attracting international experience and expertise,” said Al-Murooshid.
“We will also deliver effective regulations across the whole of Dubai’s health sector, increasing transparency and accountability within the system. We will drive efficiency by funding the most effective health care for those who need it, improving accessibility to the system and sustainability for the future,” he said.
The DHA’s transition program will be introduced over the next four years and completed in 2012. It will be fully implemented by 2015.
Al-Murooshid said that the DHA would be separated from all health service delivery. Within the new structure, the DHA will not be directly responsible for providing health services in Dubai. In the future, government health services will be delivered by a government-owned public corporation, separate from the DHA, creating a number of very important benefits.
Government-owned hospitals and primary health care facilities will have greater freedom, more flexibility and accountability. In line with DHA policy and strategy, they will be responsible for their own service planning and delivery.
“For patients, this will result in greater choice, more accountability, better service, and in the longer term, higher quality health care,” said Al-Murooshid.
On the new health funding system, he said, “Our objective is to deliver a high quality, affordable and accessible health service that would provide a good basic standard of health care in Dubai that is similar to that provided by leading developed countries. It will be compulsory for everyone and will be largely employer or sponsor funded.”
Where there is no employer, the individual resident of Dubai will be responsible for the payment for dependents and those they sponsor. This payment is called a Health Benefits Contribution (HBC). It is estimated that the HBC will be between 500 dirhams and 800 dirhams per person and will be reviewed at least once a year.
Everybody will be issued with a health card and will be able to register with a public or private outpatient clinic of their choice to access care. The new health funding system will be formally launched on Jan. 1 2009, when patients will start registering with an outpatient clinic.
Meanwhile sources confirmed that the emirates’ residents would be covered by a health insurance scheme by the end of the year. Dubai will make medical insurance compulsory for expatriates. Insurance for foreigners was made compulsory in Abu Dhabi last year.
