Population Health Management and the Second Golden Age of Arab Medicine: Promoting Health, Localizing Knowledge Industries, and Diversifying Economies in the GCC Countries

Soeren Mattke ; Lauren E. Hunter ; Madeline Magnuson ; Aziza Arifkhanova

RAND Corporation

RAND Corporation

关键词: Chronic Diseases and Conditions;    Health Information Technology;    Health Care Delivery Approaches;    Health Care Reform;    Persian Gulf Region;    Students;   

DOI  :  10.7249/RR889
RP-ID  :  RR-889-AETNA

学科分类：自然科学（综合）

美国|英语

来源: RAND Corporation Published Research

【 摘 要 】

Over the past half-century, the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries — Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates — have experienced rapid economic growth and, with it, dramatic lifestyle changes. Low levels of physical activity and calorie-dense diets have led to an increase in the prevalence of chronic disease, most prominently diabetes. After having successfully controlled communicable diseases and made advanced acute care accessible locally, the GCC countries now face the challenge of orienting their health care systems toward prevention and treatment of chronic diseases. In this report, Dr. Mattke and his colleagues argue that this challenge presents GCC countries with a historic opportunity to reestablish the thought leadership role that Arab medicine had in the Islamic Golden Age. They propose that GCC countries could apply their considerable wealth to design and implement innovative health care systems based on population health management principles and sophisticated health information technology. Taking this path would not only improve prevention and management of chronic disease in the GCC countries but also contribute to the diversification of their economies and localization of knowledge industries.