Amid global economic vicissitudes and unpredictable financial climate that looms over the business arena, Saudi Arabia continues to withstand and absorb the rigors as shown by the upbeat mood of its various sectors. One of them is the healthcare industry, which, as the latest study shows, will witness rapid growth. A recent report on “Saudi Arabian Healthcare Market Forecast to 2012” revealed that the government is rapidly promoting the involvement of private healthcare in the Kingdom. In this regard, GE Healthcare, a byword in the medical industry due to its global clout, is once again reasserting its global and regional commitment to advance the cause of the industry and for the benefit of the people. GE's latest significant contributions in the Kingdom's medical field cover the gamut of medical solutions from imaging and information technologies, medical diagnostics, patient monitoring systems to disease research and drug discovery. In a recent interview with the Saudi Gazette, Richard di Benedetto, president and CEO, GE Healthcare International, EAGM region, said GE Healthcare's advanced diagnostic tools enable earlier and faster diagnosis, which can help decrease medical costs considerably while increasing the availability of a range of treatment options. Shifting resources to “Early Health” and developing technologies that allow healthcare providers to diagnose disease at the earliest possible stage – when there can be many treatment options – is better medicine. It also makes simple economic sense, he said. He noted that as a key market in the Middle East and Africa region for GE, Saudi Arabia will be a pivotal country for the company's growth strategies that are aimed at an annual average growth rate of 20 percent through 2010. Saudi Arabia already generates over $1 billion to GE revenues from the region. Moreover, he said GE Healthcare is also opening an assembly facility in Saudi Arabia, which will be focused on assembling innovative diagnostic imaging systems to meet the growing demand for modern healthcare equipment regionally. “We have three big pillars in our healthcare portfolio, all of which are fully operational in Saudi Arabia. We have a broad based diagnostic business which goes from imaging to clinical devices to contrast media and as well life sciences which enables us to get into genomics and proteomics. All of this is complemented by a fantastic IT business, which brings it all together.” Acknowledging the growing needs in the healthcare sector, Benedetto said GE has undertaken several proactive initiatives. GE Healthcare has invested several millions of dollars in the Kingdom in three strategic country service support centers in Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam. “These are managed by over 150 talented and skilled local professionals, which underscores our commitment to the Kingdom's localization initiatives. This has led to an increase in the speed of customer response time, strongly supported by experienced local service & technical support teams. We are investing in training and education because we believe that getting the right people with the right education is absolutely a must.” The Saudi Healthcare industry is continuing to grow at a rapid pace. Saudi Arabia has a large and growing population. The population is going to get older and hospitals and healthcare providers in Saudi Arabia will need to equip themselves with the knowledge and technology required to ensure this new aged population is adequately cared for, he pointed out. To this end, Benedetto said GE Healthcare “will be a strong partner… providing the right technology to meet the needs of the country and in identifying and training key staff to understand and operate modern healthcare technologies and solutions.” Asked about the major disease or illness that the Kingdom will face in the next five years, he said, according to statistics, cardiovascular disease amounts for 22 percent of deaths in Saudi each year. This trend could continue and will be an area of concern for the Kingdom. Factors such as obesity and stress that contribute to cardiovascular diseases, therefore, must be proactively addressed.” “Some of the more serious risk factors of cardiac disease are modifiable such as hypertension, cigarette smoking, obesity and lack of physical exercise. The importance is to raise awareness and encourage earlier pre-symptomatic disease detection and earlier, more effective treatment options,” he said. “The healthcare challenges in Saudi Arabia include growing population – especially the number of aged. Currently, the Kingdom sees an increase in spending of three to four percent, which is most probably going to double over the next 10 years. He further explained that in line with GE's corporate social responsibility, GE Healthcare complements GE's investments in developing healthcare infrastructure in the region, and is involved in training healthcare professionals. “As a reiteration of GE's localization initiatives, we have a stronger component of Saudi workforce and are creating more employment opportunities where we can transfer knowledge and expertise to them.” He said Saudi Arabia makes up the largest GE workforce in the region with more than 600 employees. “Saudi nationals enjoy leadership positions in each GE business, and GE offers them extensive technical and management training to help them take the company forward.” “We are also looking at further strengthening the GE Volunteers initiative in Saudi Arabia, which will be involved with socially relevant and community-related projects,” he added. Underscoring the key role played by GE Healthcare in promoting good health, Benedetto reiterates GE's vision for the future: “Early Health”. With many of the major risk factors modifiable, it is important that everyone works together in order to raise awareness and encourage people to take some responsibility for their own health, he explained. By partnering with the government and private operators, GE Healthcare “ensures all
