After several years of policy design and pilot programs, health leaders across the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) are shifting into a phase of system-wide execution — how care models are operationalized, how financing reforms perform at scale, and whether improvements in access, quality, and experience can be delivered consistently.
But shifting from the design to reliable, system-wide delivery will be challenging amid rising cost and capacity pressures. Five forces are shaping what comes next.
GCC health system efficiency becomes a core reform priority
Various estimates show health spending in the GCC climbing by a 6% to 9% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) over the past five years. This has been driven by the growing burden of chronic diseases, outdated and inefficient care models, and an aging population.
Governments in the GCC account for between 64% and 90% of expenditures on healthcare. Public and private payers are prioritizing efficiency in an effort to ensure long-term financial sustainability while avoiding adverse impacts on access, quality, and consumer experience. But streamlining operations alone won’t address rising costs in a sustainable way. Coordinating progress across these efforts will be important to sustain momentum and avoid fragmented impact.
Scaling value-based care across GCC health systems
In markets such as Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), value-based care continues to expand, with reimbursement increasingly linked to quality and outcomes rather than volume. This marks a shift toward more accountable, patient-centered care. Experience from other markets shows that value-based care succeeds when it is treated as a system-wide transformation — not just a contracting change, but one that is closely linked to care pathway redesign, data infrastructure, and incentive alignment across the system.
The National Insurance Company – Daman, one of the UAE’s largest insurers, is an example of a firm moving towards a value-based model that rewards healthcare providers for high-quality patient outcomes. In Saudi Arabia, meanwhile, the conversation is moving from why value-based care should be implemented to how the concept can be scaled up.
Saudi Arabia already has multiple proofs of concept for value-based care, with growing confidence in the model and its relevance to the Kingdom’s health system. This is evidenced by our recent report in which stakeholders rated the relative advantage of value-based healthcare adoption at 4.9 out of 5. However, stakeholders scored ease of implementation at just 2.3 out of 5, indicating that implementation remains challenging.
Collaboration is essential to address implementation challenges and achieve a system-wide transition to value-based care. The next phase must be about making value-based care practical: redesigning care pathways, especially in high-cost specialty areas; strengthening data and measurement; addressing siloed pilots; and aligning incentives across payers, providers, and regulators.
Mental and physical health and prevention rise in GCC strategies
Mental well-being, obesity, diabetes, and broader cardiometabolic conditions are increasingly at the center of national health strategies for governments regionwide, alongside other chronic respiratory and lifestyle-related disorders.
Mental health stands out as a priority for the years ahead, with growing emphasis on how it is integrated into core care delivery models rather than addressed through standalone initiatives. Our Analysis indicates that around 80% of mental health conditions in the GCC remain undiagnosed, significantly higher than in comparable high-income markets. That gap highlights both the scale of unmet need and the opportunity for impact.
The focus is shifting from awareness toward more integrated pathways that embed mental health into primary care, expand access and coverage, and use digital tools to support early detection and long-term management. This is a recognition that mental well-being is foundational to productivity, social inclusion, and long-term national resilience.
In addition, public and private health systems in the GCC area are looking for ways to empower individuals to manage their own health rather than focusing only on treating illness. Digital platforms, wearables, and preventive care models increasingly enable people to take greater ownership of their health, from early detection to ongoing self-management. But this can’t be done in isolation. Patients and care teams need to work collaboratively.
Governments and insurers recognize that prevention, adherence, and healthier behaviors are essential to managing long-term costs and supporting national productivity in ageing populations. Even modest self-management among people with chronic conditions can save billions in avoidable spending. Our analysis shows that stronger patient engagement can reduce complications by up to 50% and cut readmissions by up to 25%.
In Saudi Arabia, for example, a wider population now has access to a benefits package from the Center of National Health Insurance, the public payer. As part of this transformation and a parallel implementation of value-based healthcare, patients are expected to report on their outcomes and become more engaged in managing their own health.
Pharma localization and genericization strengthen GCC health resilience
Across the GCC, governments are accelerating efforts to localize their pharmaceutical ecosystems as part of broader health system reform. Saudi Arabia and the UAE are actively driving policy-level interventions (for example, incentives, preferential access to public tenders) to increase local production of drugs. A stronger emphasis on generic medicines, biosimilars, and regional manufacturing is increasingly linked not only to industrial policy goals but also to core health system priorities, including affordability, access continuity, and supply security.
Pharmaceutical localization in the region is evolving beyond a focus on supply-side resilience alone. As healthcare spending pressures intensify, localization strategies are increasingly being positioned as a lever to support cost sustainability, particularly through expanded use of generics and biosimilars in high-volume therapeutic areas.
This shift reflects a more integrated view of pharmaceuticals within the health system. Rather than treating manufacturing, procurement, and reimbursement as separate agendas, policymakers and payers are increasingly aligning localization initiatives with pricing, formulary design, and value-based purchasing approaches. Over time, this alignment is expected to play a meaningful role in improving system resilience while supporting long-term financial sustainability.
GCC countries advance stronger healthcare regulatory frameworks
GCC countries are taking steps to improve regulatory processes. Regulators are not merely aligning with global best practices but increasingly have ambitions to set the standards. This shift reflects a more confident, mature health ecosystem that recognizes regulation as a strategic enabler of innovation, investment, and better patient outcomes.
The UAE, for example, has established the Emirates Drug Establishment (EDE) to drive faster, more agile, and more coherent regulation across pharmaceuticals, medical devices, and related products. The intent is to balance patient safeguards with an industry-friendly approach that supports innovation and strengthens the UAE’s role as a regulatory reference point.
The EDE is shaping standards that are fit for the UAE context rather than importing frameworks wholesale from other markets. That means grounding regulatory requirements in local clinical practice, market structure, and health priorities, while benchmarking against global best practice where it adds value. At the same time, the EDE is focusing on operating efficiency.
In Saudi Arabia, a similar evolution is under way. The emphasis is on streamlining approvals, clarifying mandates, and aligning regulation more closely with Vision 2030 goals, including localization, life sciences investment, and system-wide efficiency. The Kingdom is enhancing its regulatory framework to support innovation through the National Biotechnology Strategy and the Saudi Food and Drug Authority’s Innovative Medical Devices pathway.
GCC health systems enter the era of full execution at scale
These shifts are interconnected and reflect broader changes under way across GCC health systems, as attention continues to move from reform design toward coordinated execution across multiple fronts.
Each one reinforces the others, from how systems are run to how care is paid for to how people engage with their own health. Together, they point to a clear direction of travel for the GCC: health systems that are more resilient, more affordable, and better aligned with what people actually need — today and in the years ahead.