UAE pharmaceutical industry set to benefit from lifestyle changes

A recent Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry study indicates that the United Arab Emirates (UAE) pharmaceutical market is one of the most developed markets in the Middle East, with a strong health care infrastructure and the highest per-capita medicine expenditure in the Middle East, and continues to lure manufacturers and traders to the region.

The study further indicates that Dubai has experienced a strong growth in pharmaceutical trade. Since 2003, imports of pharmaceutical products have risen from 800 million dirham ($217.8 million) to 3 billion dirham in 2010 while exports too have risen from 100 million dirham to 400 million dirham over the same period.

Industry experts say that there is potential for further growth in the pharmaceutical products sector in the light of the changing lifestyle dynamics in the region which is based on an increasingly westernized disease profile with non-communicable diseases such as obesity. According to the experts, the areas of growth for manufacturers include targeting the overweight and obese residents of the UAE.