khaleej times / ADVERTISING SUPPLEMENT, SUNday, NOVEMBER 18, 2012
High demand for medical services Abu Dhabi is most successful in providing easy access to healthcare services for all residents and workers Olivia Olarte-Ulherr
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mong all the seven emirates, Abu Dhabi has made considerable headway in ensuring that all its residents and workers have easy access to healthcare services with the enforcement of the Health Insurance Law No. 23 of 2005. According to the law, employers or sponsors are obligated to provide health insurance coverage to all employees/workers and their dependents/family members including the employee’s spouse and three children below 18 years of age. Failure to provide health coverage or renewal of employees’ health cards will result in fines and non-renewal of the trade licence till the employer submits evidence of health insurance subscription for his employees. More than two million people or almost 98 per cent of Abu Dhabi’s population currently have health insurance coverage. Dr Jamal Mohammed Al Kaabi, Director of Customer Care and Corporate Communications at the Health Authority — Abu Dhabi (HAAD), the health regulator of the emirate, said that HAAD is working on attaining 100 per cent compliance. Future endeavour would be to integrate the health insurance with the Emirates ID card or the national identity card. “We will replace the insurance cards with the Emirates ID cards,” said Zaid Al Siksek, HAAD CEO.
With the smart card technology, the individual’s medical history and health information will be incorporated in their Emirates ID. Thiqa Card Part of the authority’s insurance scheme is the Thiqa card of the National Health Insurance Company, Daman, for UAE nationals. This was introduced in 2008 to allow Emiratis free access to care in any of the private and public health providers of their choice. An important element of the Thiqa card is the compulsory ‘Weqaya’ (precaution) screening for adult Emiratis (18 years and above) for cardiovascular diseases’ risk factors as a condition for enrolling in Thiqa insurance. Early results of the Weqaya screening, which was carried out on 185,000 Emiratis or 97 per cent of the local nationals, showed obesity rates of 33 per cent for males and 38 per cent for females. High proportions of UAE nationals over 15 years are also at risk of diabetes and hypertension. To empower them to care for their own health, each individual was sent a report card. The card tells each individual their blood sugar level (an indication of risk of diabetes), cholesterol and body mass index (an indication of risk of heart disease). And depending on their risk factor, advice was given on how they could improve their health and manage their condition. Phase 2 of the Wegaya
programme started this year and include tests for Vitamin D deficiency and kidney function. These tests were optional for those who are renewing their Thiqa card. “We know that we have a huge problem in this area (Vitamin D deficiency) and we would like to know how huge the problem is,” explained Dr Khaled Aidha Al Jaberi, Manager of NonCommunicable Disease at HAAD. Diabetes The emirate has high rates of chronic diseases related to lifestyle such as obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular diseases. Cardiovas cu lar dis eas es accounted for over a quarter of deaths in 2011. In an endeavour to make sure that the emirate was providing appropriate diabetes care, HAAD carried out a survey in 2010, which showed that only 20 per cent of the 140,823 people with diabetes in the emirate have their condition well under control. Among the diabetics, women and older people (60 years and above) had better control of diabetes than men and the younger patients. Among the health insurance plans, Thiqa card provides better diabetes care (27 per cent) than the enhanced (20 per cent) and basic products (15 per cent). Capacity gaps With the emirate’s growing population, Abu Dhabi faces
Dhabi has critical requirements for intensive and critical care, emergency care, neonatology, cardiology and psychiatry. Gaps also remain in paediatrics, oncology, obstetrics and gynaecology. To bridge these gaps, HAAD said it would prioritise licensing of healthcare professionals where there are acute shortages. HAAD is also encouraging private investments in areas where there are shortfalls.
Dr Jamal Mohammed Al Kaabi
growing demand for services specifically on the growing burden of chronic diseases. In specialised services, Abu
Growth According to HAAD, there has been a significant growth in the number of physicians and facilities across the emirate due to increased demand for health services, driven primarily by increased outpatient encounters. HAAD 2011 statistics showed
that there has been a three per cent growth in the number of physicians and 11.8 per cent growth of facilities across the emirate. By 2021 it is estimated that up to 3,200 additional doctors and 5,900 nurses will be required. And if demand remains at the 2011 level, this requires annual recruitment of some 1,500 doctors and 1,600 nurses. High demand projections also indicate that in 2021, demand for inpatient services may require up to 1,600 additional beds beyond the current 3,659 beds. Based on the projected population by 2030, which will be double the current 2.4 million, up to 20 new medium to large hospitals and 23 new clinics will be required to serve the community in future. — olivia@khaleejtimes.com