Briefly tell us about your organisation and its activities in the healthcare industry, notably in the Middle East region

GE HealthCare is a leading global medical technology, pharmaceutical diagnostics, and digital solutions innovator, dedicated to providing integrated solutions, services, and data analytics to make hospitals more efficient, clinicians more effective, therapies more precise, and patients healthier and happier.

In the Middle East, Northeast Africa and Türkiye (MENEAT) region, GE HealthCare has been a partner for more than 50 years, helping to address some of the unique healthcare challenges of the region through integrated strategies that have led to significant improvements in healthcare standards, clinical diagnosis, and patient outcomes.

In the MENEAT region and globally, GE HealthCare’s Imaging, Ultrasound, Patient Care Solutions, and Pharmaceutical Diagnostics businesses help improve patient care from prevention and screening, to diagnosis, treatment, therapy, and monitoring. We are an $18 billion business with +50,000 employees working to create a world where healthcare has no limits.

What are your thoughts on the current market trends? If possible, please predicts the sectors poised for growth.

The healthcare industry in the region is moving from a curative care to a preventive care model, and public and private sector stakeholders in the region are investing heavily in technology to make use of early diagnostic tools to accelerate the transformation.

In this regard, we see that leveraging deep learning solutions will be critical, as more countries shift to a future-ready healthcare ecosystem to promote precise, connected, and compassionate care.

Imaging plays a vital role in healthcare diagnosis and delivery, and through partnerships with local and regional providers, our growing portfolio of more than 19 new digital solutions powered by AI will help revamp existing hospital practices and accelerate diagnostics and treatment in the region.

As well, we see PET/CT continuing to grow into clinical areas outside of oncology and the importance of digital detection increasingly more important.

Please highlight your portfolio and/or services. What sets you apart from others in the region’s competitive market?

GE HealthCare is distinguished not only by the range of our technologies and solutions, but also our ability to provide a holistic approach to healthcare delivery for customers and partners. As such, we bring extensive capabilities in equipment service, maintenance and upgrades; training for technicians and clinicians that can enhance patient care and experience, and drive operational efficiencies; project and equipment financing; bringing together local and international partners; leveraging regional and global public-private partnership experience; and executing project with management expertise honed over decades and diverse geographies. We also bring more than 50 years of regional experience in countries across the Middle East, Northeast Africa and Türkiye.

Tell us about your recent achievements and accolades.

There are many to discuss, but four will give a sense for the geographic diversity of our work, the broad collaboration across both public and private sector customers, and the scale of impact.

in Saudi Arabia, we signed an agreement with the Ministry of Health (MoH) to co-design and implement a “One Stop Breast Plus Diagnostic Pathway” program to shorten the time to diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer, improve outcomes, and expand access. This is important, given that more than 50% of breast cancer cases in the Kingdom are detected at a late stage, compared to 20% in developed countries. Early detection through effective screening strategies and timely diagnosis are critical to reducing the burden of the disease.

In Iraq, we supported the Ministry of Health in opening 22 neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) in hospitals across the country that were equipped with GE HealthCare incubators, warmers, ultrasound machines, mobile x-ray units, baby ventilators, and patient monitors. With at least one NICU in every province, the new infrastructure will help to significantly enhance and expand care for newborns.

In Turkey, we are providing one of the country’s largest private healthcare group with a first-in-the-nation, state-of-the-art GE HealthCare Command Center. Representing the latest in digital hospital implementation, the Command Center provides real-time visibility into dozens of operating parameters and KPIs across a network of 16 interconnected hospitals. As a result, the group will be able to enhance speed, patient satisfaction, and quality, all while reducing costs.

Give us an insight into your investments and partnerships, as well as your plans for 2024

In 2024, our top areas of focus include supporting customers in digitization, sustainability, and care pathway development.

From our digital hospital Command Center systems to AI-enhanced machines and software to help manage data, digitization will be an important enabler for our customers.

As for sustainability, we are proud that many of our medical imaging machines are more energy efficient than older models and enable greater patient throughput, meaning providers can serve more patients with the same equipment levels. We promote equipment circularity, both through refurbishment and recycling, and are developing our net-zero roadmap for Scope 1, 2 and 3, even as we make progress toward our near-term goal to reduce Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 50% by the year 2030.

With a strong record of collaboration in the area of care pathways, we look forward to extending this work to other countries, health ministries and diseases priorities

What will you be showcasing at Arab Health 2024, and what opportunities are you looking forward to?

We look forward to presenting GE HealthCare’s cutting-edge innovations in precision care that are boldly reimagines how care is delivered and are playing a critical role in helping to solve some of the most significant clinical challenges in the MENEAT region.

Some of the most innovative technologies we are bringing to the region include: the Omni Legend™ PET/CT, which delivers vast improvements to the entire PET/CT scanning process as it enables exemplary diagnostic confidence with a collection of intuitive workflow solutions enhanced by AI.

The Signa Champion™ enables faster and more precise MRI scans and has a highly scalable platform that can supports broader affordability, configurability, and upgradability. Another technology is the Portrait VSM (vital signs monitor), which simplifies patient admissions, routine spot checks and observations, empowering clinicians to make quick, informed decisions that may lead to better patient outcomes.

The Vscan Air™ SL handheld wireless ultrasound imaging system is designed for use in rapid cardiac and vascular assessments to accelerate diagnoses and treatment decisions. The device features the company’s proprietary SignalMax and XDclear imaging performance technology which enables high levels of penetration, resolution, and sensitivity with a single crystal transducer technology.