Boston, MA -- (SBWIRE) -- 12/27/2012 -- BMI View: In BMI's Pharmaceuticals Risk/Reward Ratings (RRR) table for Q412, Kuwait remains in second position, trailing the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Its risks profile is stronger than its rewards, which are squeezed by the small market size and political instability that may stall the reform of its healthcare system. Nevertheless, healthcare expenditure growth will continue to be driven by the expansion of facilities as well as by the country's disease profile, with Kuwaitis, for example, suffering one of the highest incidences of obesity in the world.

Headline Expenditure Projections

- Pharmaceuticals: KWD204mn (US$737mn) in 2011 to KWD216mn (US$773mn) in 2012; +6.2% in local currency terms and +4.8% in US dollar terms. Forecast unchanged from Q312.
- Healthcare: KWD11.4bn (US$3.96bn) in 2011 to KWD1.17bn (US$4.19bn) in 2012; +7.0% in local currency terms and +5.6% in US dollar terms. Forecast broadly unchanged from Q312.
- Medical devices: KWD75mn (US$273mn) in 2011 to KWD81mn (US$289mn) in 2012; +7.3% in local currency terms and +5.9% in US dollar terms. Forecast unchanged from Q312.

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Risk/Reward Rating: In BMI's RRRs table for Q412, Kuwait remains second, having lost its pole position to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in Q212. The country's composite score is some 3% higher quarter-on-quarter (q-o-q), at 58.0 out of the maximum 100 points. Globally, Kuwait ranks 28th out of 95 markets. We expect that it will retain its favourable ranking over the coming months, on account of high per capita spending on medicines, although political instability may mean that its healthcare reform progress is slower than planned.

Key Trends And Developments

- The two-day GCC e-Health Conference in Kuwait City, held in February 2012, discussed the requirement to integrate healthcare with information technology. Ahmed al-Barrak, an associate professor of health informatics and medical informatics and conference chairman, said the conference aimed to encourage healthcare providers and IT experts to exchange information and demonstrate market-ready applications. Barrak said IT support can help the healthcare sector to address several the challenges with electronic health records, telemedicine, telehealth, decision support, medication, medical errors, patient safety and security. He said the e-Health Programme can ensure quality as it enabled health care providers and organisations to make better documentation and allow them to make knowledge-based decisions, diagnoses, treatment and help provide accurate solutions to nurses and doctors.

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