Review of National Healthcare Systems in the Gulf Cooperation Council Countries for Non-Communicable Diseases Management

Abstract

Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) are the leading cause of mortality in all Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) member countries and place substantial economic burden on the governments and the people. The escalating demand for NCD-related health services takes an enormous toll on health systems in the GCC countries. There is an urgent need to make significant advances in the healthcare infrastructure and develop strategies to overcome the NCD challenge. This review aims to provide the current status of national healthcare systems and national NCD policies in the GCC member countries to highlight the challenges and identify opportunities towards strengthening NCD management and control. The PubMed database, the World Health Organization website and Ministry of Health websites of GCC member countries were searched to identify relevant information. Future strategies and investments in healthcare infrastructure to overcome the NCD challenge include continuing high-level commitment towards multisectoral actions, redesigning healthcare delivery to advance universal healthcare coverage, enabling integration of healthcare services through organizational alignment to maintain care continuum, building the capacity of health workforce, developing effective treatment strategies through research based on local populations, integrating mental health into general public health policy and lastly, establishing reliable NCD surveillance and monitoring programs. Measures to address NCDs must be continued with focus on “health-in-all policies”, “whole-of-government” approach and “whole-of-society” approach.