The UAE government is making massive efforts to leverage modern technologies in a bid to develop a world-class healthcare system that falls in line with the country’s Vision 2021. Reflecting the most pressing public health needs of the country, the UAE’s healthcare agenda for 2021 is strongly focused on improving the management and control of non-communicable diseases.
The Internet of Things (IoT) and its accompanying technologies have immense potential to support the UAE in achieving its 2021 healthcare targets, the majority of which are focused on alleviating the growing rates of chronic diseases. The potential application areas for IoT to support the UAE healthcare authorities in achieving these aims cover various levels of care provision and administration, including public health surveillance systems, the monitoring and control of critical health risk factors, the screening and early diagnosis of chronic diseases, and the remote monitoring of patients in outpatient settings.
“The Internet of Things can be viewed as one of the most powerful enablers of patient-centred healthcare in the modern era of connected patients, when healthcare systems are being urged to move from the ‘diagnose and cure’ model to the ‘sense and prevent’ model,” says Nino Giguashvili, IDC Health Insights’ lead research analyst for Central and Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (CEMA). “Now is the time for the UAE to put IoT to work to accelerate progress toward its healthcare targets for the year 2021.”
In addition to chronic disease control, IoT can be leveraged to support the achievement of the UAE’s 2021 healthcare targets in a number of other areas, including issues related to healthcare workforce and the quality of medical care, via IoT-based systems such as those for monitoring patients in clinical settings (e.g., monitoring patients in intensive care units), managing medical inventory (e.g., asset tracking, predictive maintenance, remote diagnostics of medical devices), monitoring human resources, and delivering remote medical education.
For more detailed information on what IoT technology holds in store for the UAE’s quest for world-class healthcare, please see the IDC Health Insights’ report ‘Internet of Things Essential to UAE’s 2021 Vision for World-Class Healthcare’ (www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerId=EHI06X). The report discusses the opportunities that IoT technology opens up in terms of supporting the UAE government in achieving its vision for world-class healthcare.
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