Mena Health Conference, October 2014
According to UK Trade and Investment, the MENA region is home to five of the ten high value opportunity campaigns in healthcare, valued collectively at over £1bn. Healthcare UK, which is a joint initiative between NHS England, the Department of Health and UK Trade and Investment, is actively engaged with key MENA countries, promoting British healthcare associated companies. To further encourage this, Healthcare UK partnered with Pathfinder Trade and Invest for MENA Health 2014, a major healthcare investment summit which took place at Lancaster House on October 15, 2014.
MENA Health 2014 was a terrific success, which brought together leading decision-makers from the UK and MENA region, as well as other countries around the world. Joining us from the region were officials from the Ministries of Health as well as senior-representatives from the private sector such as the Dubai Healthcare City and the Hamad Medical Corporation in Qatar. Joining overseas healthcare leaders were international UK-based stakeholders including MENA Health’s sponsors PwC, AstraZeneca, Carillion, TPP and DLA Piper.
MENA Health will provided unparalleled expertise and insights on emerging trends and upcoming projects in the region. This included major infrastructure projects, hospital build, facilities management, medical training and R&D, with a special emphasis on cost-effective technologies and preventive health.
MENA Health’s speakers and chairmen exemplify successful UK-MENA healthcare partnerships, such as:
- Professor Kazem Behbehani, OBE, Director General of the Dasman Diabetes Institute, Kuwait, recently awarded an OBE from for his services to UK-Kuwait Healthcare cooperation and in his tireless work promoting diabetes research. Spoke on: New Technology and Preventive Health.
- Dr Geoff Hall, Associate Medical Director for Cancer Services at the Leeds Cancer Centre, UK, central in developing a collaboration between the Leeds Cancer Centre and the King Hussein Cancer Centre Jordan to develop and share cancer treatments across the Middle East. Spoke on: Growing Training and Research Capacity
- The Rt Hon Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean, MENA Health Chairman, formerly a Minister for the Middle East and still actively involved in the MENA region, chairing the UK Parliament’s all-party group on Qatar, the Saudi-British Joint Business Council and the British Egyptian Society.
As Baroness Symons, Chairman of MENA Health, noted, “Now is the time to invest in UK-MENA healthcare partnerships. British technology and expertise is poised to contribute in all sectors of the health industry, from hospital build to training and R&D. This conference will provide a key platform for establishing and developing important relationships with our strategic partners in the region, and I congratulate the organisers on their positive efforts toward shared goals.”