Medical devices and the Middle East: market, regulation, and reimbursement in Gulf Cooperation Council states

Abstract

With some of the richest economies in the world, the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) is undergoing rapid growth not only in its population but also in health care expenditure. Despite the GCC’s abundance of hydrocarbon-based wealth, the drivers of the medical device industry in the GCC are still in flux, with gains yet to be made in areas of infrastructure, regulation, and reimbursement. However, the regional disease burden, expanding health insurance penetration, increasing privatization, and a desire to attract skilled expatriate health care providers have led to favorable conditions for the medical device market in the GCC. The purpose of this article is to investigate the current state of the GCC medical device industry, with respect to market, regulation, and reimbursement, paying special attention to the three largest medical device markets: Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar. The GCC would seem to represent fertile ground for the development of medical technologies, especially those in line with the regional health priorities of the respective member states.

Keywords:

• medical devices
• regulation
• reimbursement
• Middle East

Acknowledgments

Thank you to Professor Jan Pietzch (Stanford Biodesign, Faculty of Bioengineering, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA, USA), who critically reviewed the study proposal and advised on study direction.

Disclosure

The author reports no conflicts of interest in this work.