The Middle East and Africa has become one of the most lucrative markets for healthcare technology providers as budgetary constraints in the US and Europe increase.

General Electric (GE) Healthcare is eyeing growth of up to 20 per cent in the region, while Philips is expecting growth of about 15 per cent.

“You go around the world and you see two things: We’ve got more patients,” said John Dineen, the president and chief executive of GE Healthcare. “Everybody has a higher disease burden because of the demographics, and populations are getting older. Diseases are chronic and more complicated.

“But at the same time governments around the world are either fiscally challenged like the US or Europe or are carefully trying to build out their healthcare systems. Everybody is struggling with the economics of healthcare.”

According to Markaz research, healthcare expenditure in the GCC has been increasing at about 7.9 per cent a year over the past 10 years. Total healthcare expenditure is expected to rise to $79.2 billion by 2015 in the GCC alone.

“Growth in health care is really being driven by regions like this. Developing markets around the world are taking a front seat for medical technology companies,” said Mr Dineen. “There is a tremendous build-up of governments in the region that are thoughtfully investing in their societies…[and the] Middle East and Africa is one of the most strategic markets for us.”

GE and Philips both claim their growth in the region has been “double digit” in the past year.

“The reason why it is growing well is if you look at the incidents of cardiovascular disease, obesity, diabetes, these are the areas the governments are very focused on,” said Skander Malcolm, the president and chief executive of Eastern and Africa Growth Markets at GE Healthcare. “We have deliberately brought together teams that specifically work on those issues.”

Diabetes is one of the most pressing healthcare issues across the Middle East. Almost 20 per cent of the UAE’s population suffers from the disease.

“If you look at cardiovascular disease, we have been investing very heavily in this field in the Middle East. The team has grown three-fold in the last four years. We have local hires and don’t see a lot of expatriates in this part of the world,” said Mr Malcolm.

Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar and Iraq are the countries contributing mostly to the regional growth.

“One of the things that is difficult to do in the region is to forecast because of the volatility but we are confident that it will be a strong year again,” said Roy Jakobs, chief executive of Philips Electronics Middle East & Turkey .

“Because of its sheer size and population, Saudi is a heavyweight in the region, but the current rate of growth the UAE has the best momentum in the region along with Qatar.”

For GE, the standout country in the region is Iraq, where it has deployed a team to train, design hospitals and sell its technology. One of the biggest challenges for Iraq is the lack of skills, a problem that other countries across the region are facing.

“Having training centres from international providers like GE is vital,” said Alaa Amin, managing director of Oncology Solution International, who is opening a centre to treat cancer patients in Iraq. “The country’s healthcare sector lacks the skills and we need to bring international standards to Iraq.”

thamid@thenational.ae