Healthcare Systems and Health Economics in GCC Countries: Informing Decision-Makers from the Perspective of the Gulf Health Economics Association

Yazed AlRuthia ^1* Sara Al Dallal ² Hana Alabdulkarim ³ Ahmed Al-Jedai ⁴ Hajer Almudaiheem ⁴ Anas Hamad ⁵ Khalifa Elmusharaf ⁶ Mouza Saadi ² Hamda Al Awar ⁷ Haleama Al Sabbah ⁸ Suliman A Alghnam ⁹ Mohamed Al Ghamdi ¹⁰ Sara Monshi ¹¹ Nada Alagil ¹² Mohamed Al Khalifa ¹³ Qasim Abdulkarim ¹³ Sawsan Alabdulkarim ¹⁴ Huda Jawad ¹⁵ Sultana Al-Sabahi ¹⁶ Asiya Al Kindi ¹⁶ Said Wani ¹⁶ Abdullah Alibrahim ¹⁷

• ¹ King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
• ² Dubai Health Authority, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
• ³ National Guard Hospital, King Abdulaziz City, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
• ⁴ Ministry of Health (Saudi Arabia), Riyadh, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
• ⁵ Hamad Medical Corporation, Doha, Qatar
• ⁶ University of Birmingham Dubai, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
• ⁷ Department of Health, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
• ⁸ Abu Dhabi University, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
• ⁹ Public Health Authority (Saudi Arabia), Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
• ¹⁰ Saudi Health Council, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
• ¹¹ Umm al-Qura University, Mecca, Saudi Arabia
• ¹² Council of Health Insurance, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
• ¹³ Supreme Council of Health, Manama, Bahrain
• ¹⁴ Bahrain Research Consortium, Manama, Bahrain
• ¹⁵ University of Bahrain, Sakhir, Southern Governorate, Bahrain
• ¹⁶ Ministry of Health (Oman), Muscat, Oman
• ¹⁷ Kuwait University, Kuwait City, Kuwait

Following the discovery of oil, citizens of the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf (GCC), which includes Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, the United Arab Emirates, and Saudi Arabia, have enjoyed the benefits of universal healthcare. However, as the population and healthcare demands in the GCC continue to grow, financing these healthcare systems without adequately considering the value of reimbursed health technologies and the effectiveness of various policies has become increasingly challenging. While numerous narrative reviews and government reports have discussed the healthcare systems in these nations, they have not sufficiently addressed the approval processes, economic evaluations, and reimbursement mechanisms for health technologies. In response to this gap, experts in health economics and outcomes research (HEOR) from the Gulf Health Economics Association – recognized as key opinion leaders in public health and academia across the six GCC countries – conducted a focus group discussion. This focus group meeting, which was recorded and transcribed verbatim to be later thematically analyzed, aimed to characterize the current state of healthcare systems within the GCC, identify challenges in adopting and implementing health economic evaluations to inform policymakers and propose recommendations to expedite the integration of HEOR in the assessment of various health policies and technologies within their respective countries. The convened experts also underscored the importance of collaboration among GCC member states to enhance the adoption of robust health technology evaluations and improve patient access to cost-effective treatments.