The International Family Medicine Conference (IFM 2018) - Dubai

The International Family Medicine Conference (IFM) was held under the patronage of H.H. Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and the President of Dubai Health Authority on February 26-28. The conference was hosted at Dubai International Convention & Exhibition Centre and aimed to enhance family medicine practice in Dubai and UAE, by empowering and educating the family physician community.

The conference brought together family physicians and practitioners from different parts of the world to interact with each other and share their contributions toward healthcare and the management of various patient health concerns in primary care.

By inviting speakers, product specialists and decision-makers from different parts of the world, the IFM 2018 paved the way for future collaborations towards establishing Dubai as an internationally recognized medical tourism hub, in addition to positioning the Emirate as a global medical education destination.

International Family Medicine Conference – Key Agenda

More than 120 speakers and 3,000 medical specialists and participants attended the 2018 edition of IFM. Some of the key topics discussed at the fifth edition of the IFM included:

• Updates of Diabetes
• Physical Inactivity & Obesity
• Innovation & New Approaches in Primary Healthcare
• Humanizing Health Care ‘The Art of Family Medicine
• The Role of Family Physicians (Women & Child Health)
• Pathway to Cervical Cancer Elimination
• Anxiety & Physical Illness Interface
• Medico-Legal issues

Dubai to Become a Leading Medical Tourism Hub Globally

Dubai is one of the world’s fastest-growing medical tourism destinations. The city has a world-class healthcare infrastructure and is equipped with internationally accredited medical facilities and services. Furthermore, the Emirate has close to 35,000 high-caliber healthcare professionals who follow high standards in healthcare delivery. At the core of Dubai’s success is its strong health regulation framework, which in itself is a catalyst for Dubai’s medical tourism.

Dubai Health Authority (DHA) has the ambition to attract 500,000 annual international medical tourists to the city by 2020, a strategic goal that is fuelling investment opportunities for the emirate’s healthcare industry.

IFM Impact on Dubai’s Medical Education and Healthcare Industry

The work of the IFM conference is consistent with Dubai’s strategic goal of transforming the city into the preferred destination for education, healthcare treatment and tourism. The ultimate priority of the IFM organizers was to boost the healthcare offer in Dubai and UAE, by strengthening the practice of Family Medicine in the country, under the directive of the World Health Organization (WHO), ‘to provide one family doctor for every 1,000 people’.

Investment Opportunities in Dubai’s Healthcare Sector

Dubai currently has a population of 3 million people according to Dubai Statistics Center (DSC). With Dubai’s population set to reach 5 million by 2030 according to official figures, the Emirate’s healthcare sector is forecast to provide investors with significant investment opportunities in the coming years. This includes a wide range of healthcare industry segments, including but not limited to Medical Care, Medical Tourism Insurance, Dentistry, Dermatology, Ophthalmology, Weight-loss Surgeries, Gynecology, Preventive Medicine, and Sports Medicine.

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