الملخص الإنجليزي
Objectives: Noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) are the leading cause of mortality in all
Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) member countries and place a substantial economic
burden on the governments and people. The escalating demand for NCD-related
health services takes an enormous toll on health systems in these countries. There is an
urgent need to make significant advances in the healthcare infrastructure and develop
strategies to overcome the NCD challenge. This review aims to provide the status of
national healthcare systems and national NCD policies in GCC countries to highlight
the challenges and identify opportunities towards strengthening NCD management
and control. Methods: We searched the PubMed database, the World Health
Organization, and the Ministry of Health websites of GCC countries to identify relevant
information. Results: Future strategies and investments in healthcare infrastructure to
overcome the NCD challenge include continuing high-level commitment towards
multisectoral actions, redesigning healthcare delivery to advance universal healthcare
coverage, enabling integration of healthcare services through organizational alignment
to maintain care continuum, building the capacity of health workforce, developing
effective treatment strategies through research based on local populations, integrating
mental health into general public health policy, and lastly, establishing reliable NCD
surveillance and monitoring programs. Conclusions: Measures to address NCDs
must be continued with focus on health-in-all policies, and whole-of-government and
whole-of-society approaches.
