Health Systems Reforms in Kuwait and the GCC
At the forefront of advancing our understanding and development of healthcare policies in Kuwait and the broader GCC region. The projects range from dissecting specific health insurance programs to conducting broader studies that chart the ongoing healthcare transformations and reforms across the Gulf states.
Kuwait’s Health Policy Fellowship & Research Project [Ongoing Project]During a Spring 2023 fellowship at Harvard University's Belfer Center, an extensive study was conducted on Kuwait's healthcare policies, spotlighting the 'Afya' Publicly Funded Health Insurance Program for Retirees.
The research, "Deconstructing Kuwait's Health Policy Discourse and Implementations: The Case of Afya," utilized a unique set of resources to map out Kuwait’s healthcare policy landscape.
The study offered a holistic view of government-led healthcare provision, highlighting the interplay between private sector participation and policy processes, key political figures, and economic results.
A notable discovery was the unclear objectives in healthcare policy versus the actualities of policy execution.
The findings pave the way for a deeper understanding of healthcare policy formulation and changes in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region, emphasizing the importance of comparing healthcare reforms throughout the GCC.
The Case for Systems Engineering in GCC Healthcare PolicyHealthcare systems are intricate entities, going beyond just hospitals, clinics, and personnel, with unique characteristics that can't be understood by isolating these components.
Merely increasing healthcare infrastructure, training more staff, or increasing private sector involvement often doesn't lead to sustained enhancements in public health outcomes.
It's essential to perceive healthcare systems as multifaceted entities deeply rooted in economic, regulatory, and cultural aspects, necessitating comprehensive dynamic solutions.
Policies and interventions that overlook the myriad of existing forces miss out on potential collaborative benefits.
As a result, many well-intentioned healthcare reform efforts have inadvertently led to negative consequences.
Read more about how Systems Engineering can help ongoing GCC Health Reforms.
A Comparative Assessment of Healthcare Financing in GCC Countries: Past, Present, and Future [Ongoing Project]The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries are undergoing significant healthcare reforms to enhance and broaden healthcare services, with health reform being a top priority in many regional strategic visions and development agendas.
Despite the shared political, cultural, and economic foundations of GCC countries, the rate and nature of healthcare reforms differ considerably across the region.
There's a notable gap in systematic comparative evaluations, making it challenging to extract lessons and insights from regional healthcare financing practices.
The 21st century brought new hurdles, including transitioning from an oil-funded healthcare model to a self-reliant one, given the fluctuating global oil markets. Coupled with rising non-communicable diseases and high state healthcare spending, these challenges prompted a second wave of healthcare system transformations in the GCC, marked by diverse structural and financial reforms.