26 March 2012
Raza Siddiqui, chief executive of Arabian Healthcare, has been associated with the field for over three decades and is credited with launching Dubai Lifestyle City and the RAK Hospital in Ras Al Khaimah.
In an interview with Zawya, he talks about his new baby, the Arabian Healthcare Group, and how RAK Hospital is positioning itself as a key player in the UAE's medical tourism sector. Excerpts:
The last three years have been tough due to the economic meltdown. What was the effect on your business?
It had no effect and we experienced 15% growth, because, being a necessity, the healthcare industry is recession-proof.
Plus, there is a lot of potential for growth in the UAE's healthcare sector right now; the UAE spends just 3.2% of GDP on healthcare and per capita spend is USD 1,200 to USD 1,600, as compared to the US, where government spending on healthcare is close to 14% of GDP and per capita spending is USD 6,000.
Also, with the UAE's population increasing rapidly and touching the eight million mark, the healthcare industry will boom.
How does the Arabian Healthcare Group plan to be part of this growth?
We are doing a feasibility study for a 100-150 bed hospital in Dubai as people want personalized, individualized and customized care. We want to make a boutique hospital connected to a hotel, keeping medical tourists in mind. We are scouting locations in Dubai Investment Park, Dubai Marina or somewhere near the airport.
We are opening a chain of clinics in Ras Al Khaimah and we are also establishing a reference lab there. This will help us conduct advanced molecular biology and genetic testing that is not available in the UAE right now.
We are also setting up specialty diabetic, eye and IVF centres and a med-spa in RAK Hospital. We plan to bring celebrities from around the world to RAK for cosmetic procedures. They can bring their own doctor if they want, get the procedure done in privacy and go back.
Arabian Healthcare will also offer efficient, cost-effective, hospital management solutions to the UAE government and other countries. All over the world, most governments spend lots on healthcare but more can be done to raise levels of patient satisfaction. So we will manage their existing and new hospitals.
We will be doing a turnkey hospital in Mumbai, India, soon and we are in talks about opening hospitals in Nigeria and Nairobi.
So, what are your revenue projections for 2012?
It's too early to say. We can't talk about numbers right now as so many new things are happening. We will wait and watch what direction we are going in before setting targets.
During the recession many medical projects were put on hold in UAE. Are things back on track now?
Work has begun on many private hospitals in UAE that had been put on hold, because people are realizing that healthcare is one of the few recession-proof sectors. Many old and new groups, like the Majid Al Futtaim Group, are entering healthcare now. There is tremendous potential for growth because the UAE has one bed per 700 population. According to the World Health Organisation you must have one bed per 250 people, so the supply has to double.
Also, just like in Abu Dhabi, insurance in all other emirates will become mandatory soon and everyone will have access to quality, private healthcare.
So it's a promising sector that will boom in the next five to six years.
Despite the crisis, has the UAE been able to carve its niche in the medical tourism business?
The economic downturn has not affected the UAE's medical tourism plans too much as the UAE has established itself as one of the finest shopping and leisure destinations in the region. We have beautiful beaches, the best hotels; it's a clean, safe and secure country with great infrastructure and world-class private healthcare providers of international repute.
The global medical tourism industry is worth USD 100 billion and in this region it is likely to become a USD 20 billion industry. Of this, Thailand and India have a major share. However, the advantage that the UAE has is that people from East and North Africa pass through here on their way to India. So if the UAE was to provide world-class medical infrastructure at Asian prices, then it will take a major share of the medical tourism pie in the region. I think within the next five to seven years the UAE will be a very noticeable player on the world medical tourism map.
What does the UAE have to do to promote itself as a major medical tourism destination?
First, the UAE has to encourage private sector investment in world-class hospitals here. Today 70% of the bed supply in the country is from government hospitals and only 30% is from the private sector. The demand is much more than supply. So how will the UAE position itself as a medical tourism destination if they have a shortage of beds?
In the next few years everyone in the UAE will have medical insurance. That means that the country needs to double its bed supply in order to meet local demand. So the UAE really needs to encourage investment in private healthcare as this is the right location and the UAE has the right infrastructure and everything else that is needed to support medical tourism.
Also, the UAE needs to market itself well. For example, Ras Al Khaimah is already marketing itself as a medical tourism destination. RAK Hospital has opened offices in Ethiopia, Nigeria, Afghanistan, Oman, Iraq, Kenya and Armenia to facilitate patient flow from these destinations to RAK Hospital. Today we have at least six to seven foreign patients in our hospital at any given time. We not only go to their country and convince them to come to RAK Hospital, we provide turnkey packages. For example, Pakistan is a goldmine for us as the Pakistani medical sector is not so evolved. So we have tied up with RAK Airways that has direct flights to Lahore and Peshawar to bring patients from Pakistan to Ras Al Khaimah at a subsidised rate.
In a nutshell, more hospitals and aggressive marketing is needed.
What should the UAE do to attract Western patients for major procedures and not just cosmetic surgery?
Well, there is a huge waiting list in the UK's National Health Service for major treatments and procedures like joint and hip replacement. However, people from the West have reservations about going to countries like India mainly because of infrastructure issues. This is despite the fact that India has excellent doctors and good hospitals. So if the UAE can provide the same level of excellence, at Asian prices, we will start attracting patients from the West for major procedures too.
In fact, RAK Hospital is already trying to bring in patients from the West. We are working with the UK NHS and trying to tie-up with some US insurance companies to bring patients here for major procedures.
What regulation changes would you like the UAE to implement for your sector's benefit?
All the emirates have different healthcare regulators, which makes it very difficult for the healthcare industry to function. For example, a doctor with a Ras Al Khaimah license is not allowed to practise in Dubai or Abu Dhabi and vice-versa. We should have a unified system of licensing. That will enable us to get highly qualified visiting consultants here.
The UAE must also encourage its own people to get into the medical profession as we can't depend on a foreign workforce forever. We need to open more medical, dental and nursing schools in the country in order to be self-sufficient.
© Zawya 2012
Raza Siddiqui, chief executive of Arabian Healthcare, has been associated with the field for over three decades and is credited with launching Dubai Lifestyle City and the RAK Hospital in Ras Al Khaimah.
In an interview with Zawya, he talks about his new baby, the Arabian Healthcare Group, and how RAK Hospital is positioning itself as a key player in the UAE's medical tourism sector. Excerpts:
The last three years have been tough due to the economic meltdown. What was the effect on your business?
It had no effect and we experienced 15% growth, because, being a necessity, the healthcare industry is recession-proof.
Plus, there is a lot of potential for growth in the UAE's healthcare sector right now; the UAE spends just 3.2% of GDP on healthcare and per capita spend is USD 1,200 to USD 1,600, as compared to the US, where government spending on healthcare is close to 14% of GDP and per capita spending is USD 6,000.
Also, with the UAE's population increasing rapidly and touching the eight million mark, the healthcare industry will boom.
How does the Arabian Healthcare Group plan to be part of this growth?
We are doing a feasibility study for a 100-150 bed hospital in Dubai as people want personalized, individualized and customized care. We want to make a boutique hospital connected to a hotel, keeping medical tourists in mind. We are scouting locations in Dubai Investment Park, Dubai Marina or somewhere near the airport.
We are opening a chain of clinics in Ras Al Khaimah and we are also establishing a reference lab there. This will help us conduct advanced molecular biology and genetic testing that is not available in the UAE right now.
We are also setting up specialty diabetic, eye and IVF centres and a med-spa in RAK Hospital. We plan to bring celebrities from around the world to RAK for cosmetic procedures. They can bring their own doctor if they want, get the procedure done in privacy and go back.
Arabian Healthcare will also offer efficient, cost-effective, hospital management solutions to the UAE government and other countries. All over the world, most governments spend lots on healthcare but more can be done to raise levels of patient satisfaction. So we will manage their existing and new hospitals.
We will be doing a turnkey hospital in Mumbai, India, soon and we are in talks about opening hospitals in Nigeria and Nairobi.
So, what are your revenue projections for 2012?
It's too early to say. We can't talk about numbers right now as so many new things are happening. We will wait and watch what direction we are going in before setting targets.
During the recession many medical projects were put on hold in UAE. Are things back on track now?
Work has begun on many private hospitals in UAE that had been put on hold, because people are realizing that healthcare is one of the few recession-proof sectors. Many old and new groups, like the Majid Al Futtaim Group, are entering healthcare now. There is tremendous potential for growth because the UAE has one bed per 700 population. According to the World Health Organisation you must have one bed per 250 people, so the supply has to double.
Also, just like in Abu Dhabi, insurance in all other emirates will become mandatory soon and everyone will have access to quality, private healthcare.
So it's a promising sector that will boom in the next five to six years.
Despite the crisis, has the UAE been able to carve its niche in the medical tourism business?
The economic downturn has not affected the UAE's medical tourism plans too much as the UAE has established itself as one of the finest shopping and leisure destinations in the region. We have beautiful beaches, the best hotels; it's a clean, safe and secure country with great infrastructure and world-class private healthcare providers of international repute.
The global medical tourism industry is worth USD 100 billion and in this region it is likely to become a USD 20 billion industry. Of this, Thailand and India have a major share. However, the advantage that the UAE has is that people from East and North Africa pass through here on their way to India. So if the UAE was to provide world-class medical infrastructure at Asian prices, then it will take a major share of the medical tourism pie in the region. I think within the next five to seven years the UAE will be a very noticeable player on the world medical tourism map.
What does the UAE have to do to promote itself as a major medical tourism destination?
First, the UAE has to encourage private sector investment in world-class hospitals here. Today 70% of the bed supply in the country is from government hospitals and only 30% is from the private sector. The demand is much more than supply. So how will the UAE position itself as a medical tourism destination if they have a shortage of beds?
In the next few years everyone in the UAE will have medical insurance. That means that the country needs to double its bed supply in order to meet local demand. So the UAE really needs to encourage investment in private healthcare as this is the right location and the UAE has the right infrastructure and everything else that is needed to support medical tourism.
Also, the UAE needs to market itself well. For example, Ras Al Khaimah is already marketing itself as a medical tourism destination. RAK Hospital has opened offices in Ethiopia, Nigeria, Afghanistan, Oman, Iraq, Kenya and Armenia to facilitate patient flow from these destinations to RAK Hospital. Today we have at least six to seven foreign patients in our hospital at any given time. We not only go to their country and convince them to come to RAK Hospital, we provide turnkey packages. For example, Pakistan is a goldmine for us as the Pakistani medical sector is not so evolved. So we have tied up with RAK Airways that has direct flights to Lahore and Peshawar to bring patients from Pakistan to Ras Al Khaimah at a subsidised rate.
In a nutshell, more hospitals and aggressive marketing is needed.
What should the UAE do to attract Western patients for major procedures and not just cosmetic surgery?
Well, there is a huge waiting list in the UK's National Health Service for major treatments and procedures like joint and hip replacement. However, people from the West have reservations about going to countries like India mainly because of infrastructure issues. This is despite the fact that India has excellent doctors and good hospitals. So if the UAE can provide the same level of excellence, at Asian prices, we will start attracting patients from the West for major procedures too.
In fact, RAK Hospital is already trying to bring in patients from the West. We are working with the UK NHS and trying to tie-up with some US insurance companies to bring patients here for major procedures.
What regulation changes would you like the UAE to implement for your sector's benefit?
All the emirates have different healthcare regulators, which makes it very difficult for the healthcare industry to function. For example, a doctor with a Ras Al Khaimah license is not allowed to practise in Dubai or Abu Dhabi and vice-versa. We should have a unified system of licensing. That will enable us to get highly qualified visiting consultants here.
The UAE must also encourage its own people to get into the medical profession as we can't depend on a foreign workforce forever. We need to open more medical, dental and nursing schools in the country in order to be self-sufficient.
© Zawya 2012
