A Call for Private Investment in Gulf Health Care DUBAI - With soaring health care costs and the consequent additional burden on state finances, analysts say governments of countries within the Gulf Cooperation Council must actively encourage private-sector investment to relieve excessive dependence on public finances, improve the quality of treatment, and promote competition within the medical sector. "What we've witnessed in the last few years is that G.C.C. governments cannot continue to operate as welfare states in health care because of exploding costs, especially since the quality required by consumers is also not there," Jad Bitar, a management consultant in the United Arab Emirates focusing on health care for the consulting firm Booz & Co., said by telephone last month. "Aside from quality and cost being beyond what they are able to deliver, another reality is that governments are rushing to keep populations happy after the Arab Spring events," he said. Health care is a primary need and governments realize that they can't improve matters on their own. The council, an economic and political union of Arab countries, is made up of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Health care spending within council countries depends heavily on those governments, with more than 70 percent of total spending on the sector coming from public finances, according to a report released last month by Alpen Capital, a regional investment bank. Policy makers are struggling to manage rising costs, with total health care expenses nearly tripling in 10 years to reach $34.4 billion in 2009 in the six-country region, according to the report. "Cost is a real issue on everyone's agenda - from a public health perspective, we are focusing on how we can save and control costs," said Zaid al-Siksek, chief executive of the Abu Dhabi Health Authority, at the World Health Congress in Abu Dhabi last month. In Abu Dhabi, where our average age of population is 28 and median age is 19, we need to be strategically prepared for the needs of this very young population in the future and find ways to manage costs. While governments continue to subsidize health care costs at public facilities, spending at private clinics is often an out-of-pocket expense for consumers. Because public hospitals are less expensive for citizens and expatriates, the more-costly private clinics are often not fully utilized, which leads to a waste of resources and raises doubts about the sustainability of health care financing in the Gulf. Analysts say there is an urgent need for increasing private sector investment because health care costs in the region are expected to increase substantially. The Arab world is characterized by a disproportionately large and young population. Sixty percent are under the age of 30, according to the International Monetary Fund, and thus the growing need for health care services as they age. "Our health care budget is increasing every year and we still have to accommodate the demands of our growing populations," Leila al-Jassmi, chief executive for health policy and strategy for the Dubai Health Authority, said during a speech at the World Health Congress. We are obliged to help private investors navigate this sector, too; it's necessary when we look at the big picture and visualize where we want to our health care system to be in 10 years. G.C.C. governments have typically spent lavishly on the health care needs of their citizens in accordance with the model of a welfare state, said Dr. Mussaad al-Razouki, chief executive of the private health care development company Kleos Healthcare, which has operations across the Middle East and North Africa. He wrote recently by e-mail from Kuwait that in addition to a health care delivery network and free medications, patients in the Gulf council area have the option of state-sponsored overseas health care if they cannot find adequate treatment in their country.