Arab World Social Innovation Forum From local to global and global to local
FOCUS AREA: Health
Health in the UAE FACTS AND FIGURES The UAE has an emerging private health care sector and a comprehensive government funded health sector which focuses on providing high quality curative, preventative and wellness tools by providing primary, secondary and tertiary levels of healthcare for its population. There has been an increasing focus on health education, as part of the MoH’s preventative healthcare strategy to encourage the adoption of healthier lifestyles among the Emirati population. The main regulatory authorities of public healthcare in the UAE are the Ministry of
Health, Emirates Health Authority Abu Dhabi and the Dubai Health Authority. In 2010, the budget for health expenditure was
3.7% of GDP.
Dubai has launched ‘Dubai Health Care City,’ which was started in 2002 to generate revenue and encourage the burgeoning medical tourism industry in the UAE.
74%
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The percentage of healthcare bought by the UAE government in 2011. 2
According to WHO, in 2006 several small private hospitals had been set up, in addition to
35 public hospitals, 14 private hospitals and 128 outpatient clinics. 3
Source: Dubib.com
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CHALLENGES This research highlights the most pressing health issues in the UAE, namely - noncommunicable
Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) are the most common cause of death in the WHO Eastern 4
OBESITY UAE was ranked 5th among the world’s most obese nations 5 Causes of obesity include economic prosperity which has led to a sedentary lifestyle and The Department of Nutrition reported that in
25% of children between the ages of 8 and 12 were overweight.
breakfast and snacking, mass 2008, about
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There has been a shift from an intake of traditional food habits to more unhealthy food options
percentage of females and with obesity in the UAE
shopping mall food courts and fast food outlets throughout the
43%
30.2%
62.4% of parents in the UAE misperceive their children’s weight 7
UAE Males
UAE Females
DIABETES Studies have found that obesity and high BMI
obesity rates. The
UAE
11th
18.9% of 8
44% of people in Abu Dhabi diabetes. 9
SOURCE: GULF NEWS
ROAD TRAFFIC ACCIDENTS (RTAs) The Arab region has a fatality rate of 21.3 per 100, 000 in the population, higher than the global average of 18.03 per 100, 000.10 The UAE fatality rate stands at 12.7 per 100,000.11
956 deaths 2.5% GDP.
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OPPORTUNITIES
As mentioned earlier, health expenditure takes up 3.7% of the government budget (as of 2010). Focusing on the Emirati health lifestyle by social innovators would relieve the government health budget. A healthy workforce is a key determinant of economic prosper-
ity and growth and increases life expectancy rates. improve the lives of children in the UAE, one of the most severely affected groups concerning non-communicable diseases. The UAE’s international reputation concerning the unhealthy lifestyle that is primarily focused on high obesity and diabetes rates will be improved. There is a burgeoning medical tourism industry in the UAE, particularly after the launch of ‘Dubai Healthcare City,’ whereby it aims to offer the highest academic medical training at an international scale. 2.5% of total GDP, therefore reducing RTAs may recover government expenses. REFERENCES CIA World Fact Book: UAE WHO Health Sytem Financing Profile: UAE (2011) 3 WHO Health System Profile: UAE (2006) 4 WHO Global Status Report on non-communicable diseases (2010) 5 BMC Public Health Journal 6 “The weight of affluence” - Bulletin of WHO (2010) 7 Aljunaibi, Abdulla, Abdishakur Abdulle and Nico Nagelkerke. “Parental Weight Perceptions: A Cause for Concern in the Prevention and Management of Childhood Obesity in the UAE.” PLoS ONE 1 2
Imperial College London Diabetes Centre NYU Abu Dhabi Diabetes Research Center 10 WHO Report: Road Safety in the Eastern Mediterranean Region (2013) 11 Dubai Roads and Transport Authority 12 WHO Table: Estimated Number of Road Traffic Deaths 13 Hassan, Mohammed. “A holistic approah for assessing traffic safety in the United Arab Emirates.” Accident Analysis and Prevention (2012) 8 9
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LOCAL SOCIAL INNOVATORS The following are examples of social innovators who have created opportunities from their social environments to further develop the health sector in the UAE: TRACY FOUNTAIN “Every Child has the right to be protected, and protection from unintentional injury is no exception” - Tracy Fountain After the successful reception of her idea in Dubai+ACUMEN and the Khalifa Fund, Fountain launched her social venture which she named Back to Basics. Back to Basics designs training programs that address children’s injuries in the UAE. In providing trainings that are culturally sensitive, its goal is to reach out to parents, caregivers and people who work with children to ensure that children’s injuries are handled effectively.
RAGY KHAIR Ragy Khair has a passion for both social innovation and technology that date back to his early years in college. Combining these interests with knowledge gained from his MBA, he founded an online platform called Eshraq. Eshraq is an online counseling and coaching portal in the Middle East that is designed to connect clients to counselors, doctors and specialists. These specialists are designed to treat issues that range from social stigma to the treatment of phobias and fears. The perceived advantage of this portal also lies in the clients’ choice of anonymity.
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ASHOKA GLOBAL FELLOWS The following are examples of changemaking individuals who have demonstrated positive impact in their communities. These are examples of our fellows who would prove resourceful for UAE local social innovators in scaling their idea and business, sharing their experiences and challenges that they faced in the scaling process. VERA PERINO Vera Perino is transforming the way Brazilian society perceives and addresses obesity by looking at both its causes and symptoms, while sparking deep behavior change and offering alternative lifestyle opportunities to low-income children and their families. Established in 2004, Perino’s initiative, Instituto Movere, provides an unprecedented alternative to children and families struggling with weight problems.
MARIA ANA ANGELERI María Ana Angeleri is changing the landscape of nutrition education through a creative health and wellness program that integrates parents, children, adolescents, teachers, and schools. Through a dynamic and interactive prevention program that focuses on healthy eating habits and self-initiative to make good food choices, María Ana is prioritizing nutrition inside and outside of the classroom.
JORDI MARTI Jordi Martí is making early diagnosis of infectious and non-communicable diseases affordable for disadvantaged communities and poorly funded health systems. By developing his own new technology and delivering it through a global cross subsidization model, he is not only widening the range of easily traceable risk factors for certain chronic diseases, but he is also allowing rich mass-volume data analysis to quickly reach health policymakers. 6
CONTACT: Ashoka Arab World Regional 93 Abdel Aziz Al Saud 7th Floor Apt #1 El Manial, Cairo 11451, Egypt Email: awsif@ashoka-arab.org facebook.com/AshokaArabWorld twitter.com/AshokaArabWorld