| 30 Nov 2008 |
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Gulf states urged to create health awareness
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DOHA: Arab Gulf states need to invest more in health systems than in merely building large hospitals, says a healthcare finance specialist from Austria who knows the region too well.
"I think the focus in these countries should be on preventing diseases, training medicos and paramedical staff and creating health awareness among their people than just building huge healthcare infrastructure," said Leonard Lerer.
Lerer works with Zurich-based Santeum Prtners, a healthcare finance specialist body which publishes a lot of researched and informative literature on the subject. Speaking on the sidelines of the ongoing 'UN Conference on Financing Development' at the Doha Sheraton, he said: "The Gulf region is an interesting place. It has immense oil wealth but its healthcare systems remain underdeveloped."
Overall, the region's healthcare facilities need a huge $50bn in investments to match those in the West. More than 20 per cent of nationals of the GCC suffer from obesity. Heart problems and smoking are common. The emphasis should be on creating awareness and helping improve the health of the people than treating them when they have fallen sick.
People here should be encouraged to be healthy and more attention should be paid to primary healthcare system. According to Lerer, one serious problem faced by the NGOs working in the area of the healthcare in the region is a lack of data on diseases like AIDS, TB and malaria.
By Mobin Pandit
© The Peninsula 2008
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