INTERNATIONAL. These days, air medical transfer is not only a life saving solution for patients, but also a part of macro and micro healthcare investment plans. Treatment facility projects should be well-planned and located to enable the component and big-size hospital projects to set channels to bring in and transfer patients. In the Middle East, however, where there is a great deal of construction of healthcare facilities happening, in all the government and private infrastructure, the aero medical field is still not a priority.

The region is currently experiencing enormous economic growth. Record oil prices are powering a major economic boom in the six Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) countries. As a result, cash-rich governments splurge on new infrastructure projects. The healthcare sector is witnessing the development of major medical projects in the Middle East. The region is an emerging market with expenditure on healthcare predicted to rise to new heights in the next three years.

With the private sector growing faster and the concept of health insurance spreading its reach in the market, there is a new focus on quality to raise the level of medical care provided in the region. Though new healthcare facilities are in some cases complete, patient transfers from abroad is still a pending issue, both for expats in the region wishing to return home when they are taken ill or bringing the region’s nationals back home from wherever they may be in the world. Most people are willing to transfer patients to the advanced hospitals in the region, but they find it problematic due to the lack of regional aero medical transfer services, particularly short-leg flights.

Advanced healthcare facilities in the country also face constant problems with insufficient ground ambulance services, especially in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, where the hectic inner-city traffic poses a major obstacle for primary and secondary patient transfers to or from ICU departments. To make matters even worse, the aero medical field does not share the same rapid pace of development as the new health care facilities. In fact, helicopter ambulance services do not exist at the moment, although the government (Dubai HEMS (Helicopter Emergency Medical Service)) has projects under the planning stage.

The Middle East's aviation industry has recorded an above average of 5.5% growth between 2002 and 2005, over the global average growth rate of 4.8%, and there is a strong correlation between such growth and increased passenger traffic. Increased passenger traffic means increased stretcher patient traffic and also requires more evacuation between regional countries.

Considering the demographics of the region, where 100 million people are under the age of 24 and millions more are expatriates, it becomes clearer that air travel will increasingly be seen as a necessity rather than a luxury in the region. Indeed, between now and 2020, the Middle East is forecast to lead world passenger traffic growth, with current travel demand up by 18%.

Medical tourism is growing exponentially in the region every year, especially with more and more patients travelling overseas for urgent and cosmetic care. New healthcare projects are planned to meet that demand. There are the Dubai Healthcare City (UAE), Healthcare Island (Bahrain), King Abdullah Economic City Healthcare projects (Saudi Arabia), to mention a few. The main purpose of these developments is to keep the demand in the region and to provide the advanced level of service at those referral points.

Insurance is a new terminology in the region and healthcare insurance has just begun to spread. With every passing day new companies enter the market, and are increasingly searching for competitive service opportunities. Furthermore, due to the difficulties in finding a local partner in air medical services, most insurance policies do not have such services in their policies yet. International air ambulance companies are not focusing on this market and prefer to operate from their home countries instead of investing in the region.

Regardless of the very few numbers of private companies with their own fleet, almost the entire spectrum of air medical services are currently being conducted by governmental sources (army, police and so on) and most of them are operational only for inter-hospital transfers. The current system transfers patients only after a long time is taken to get the necessary government authority approvals with limited fleet capability. Other common problems with these services are the low level of medical care quality and lack of quality standards and accreditation from any international air medical service institute (CAMTS, EURAMI among others).

To further highlight the emergences of this market, the Dubai Air Medical & Rescue Show on 11-13 November 2008 will be launched alongside the established Dubai Helishow and will provide a unique and highly specialised exhibition that brings together the key players in the air medical and rescue sector.

The show will focus on technologies and services involved with transporting patients by air. It will demonstrate the crucial role air transportation plays in transferring patients when other modes of travel by land or sea would prove difficult or dangerous.

In the next few years, the region will become more affluent and people will look for better services in every sector. The healthcare field in particular will require better patient transfer services. Today’s air ambulance market in the GCC is looking for professional newcomers to the region as service providers from other healthcare fields have already expanded their expertise to the region.

Note: Dr Fatih Mehmet Gul (www.drfameg.com) is a flight physician with MBA in finance. He is the project manager for Saudi HEMS which is the first civilian helicopter ambulance service in the Middle East. He is also founder of Air Ambulance Arabia.

See also www.saudihems.com and www.airambulancearabia.com 

MIDDLE EAST BUSINESS COMMENT & ANALYSIS

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