Middle East health insurance schemes should better serve people with disabilities

May 9, 2011 - PRLog -- Dubai, UAE:  In many parts of the world, including the Middle East, health insurance providers continue to discriminate against people with disabilities. Even if you can afford to buy your insurance, it may not cover all of your needs. Experts speaking at the 8th Middle East Update in Otolaryngology Exhibition & Conference - which will conclude tomorrow (10 May) - at the Madinat Jumeirah in Dubai looked at how health insurance schemes affect people with otolaryngology related disabilities.

Dr. Mershen Pillay, who is the speech pathology and audiology supervisor at Mafraq Hospital in Abu Dhabi, has conducted a study of the underlying core values of health insurance schemes in nine Middle Eastern countries (including UAE, Bahrain and Yemen etc.) with relation to otolaryngology related disabilities such as communication, speech, language and swallowing problems.

According to Dr Pillay, “People with disabilities are often viewed as agent-less actors in their own lives. Health insurance providers in the Middle East, and around the world, must start to account for communication and language related disabilities at an individual level. We need to start to code people with disabilities in a way that gives both healthcare practitioners and health insurance providers a richly textured understanding of what our patients are capable of doing and what they need from us.”

“Doctors who work with people with disabilities should ask themselves whether they are serving the interests of their patients or those of the health insurance schemes?” adds Dr. Pillay.

Produced by IIR Middle East Life Sciences Division, which is part of Informa Exhibitions (www.informaexhibitions.com), the Otolaryngology Exhibition & Conference is accredited by the Cleveland Clinic. This CME event, supported by the UAE Ministry of Health and the Dubai Health Authority, brings together leading regional and international experts to discuss the latest trends in treatments and technologies in ear, nose and throat (ENT) disorders.

Running alongside the conference is an exhibition which demonstrates the latest technologies and product launches in the ENT field. Karl Storz, one of the world’s leading manufacturers in medical instruments, is Platinum sponsor of the event.

“The UAE is setting trends in providing the best healthcare standards on a public and private level not only for the growing population of the country, but also for patients from across the region seeking the best medical facilities,” says Wassim Mohsen, Marketing Manager, ENT, NEURO, OMFS, Karl Storz – Endoskope, East Mediterranean & Gulf. “Healthcare markets in the Gulf region are changing quickly and are deemed to have the fastest growing market opportunities. Our presence at the Middle East Update in Otolaryngology is a reflection of our strong impact in the healthcare sector, not only as providers of medical equipment but mostly as partners to the medical practitioners.”

The Otolaryngology Exhibition & Conference is open to all trade visitors and healthcare professionals and will continue 10 May, from 10am and 5pm. For further information on this topic, or details on the event, please call +971 (0)4 336 7334 or visit www.me-oto.com.

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Photo caption: Otolaryngology Exhibition & Conference 2011.

Note to Editors

About IIR Middle East (Informa Exhibition):
For more information about IIR Middle East, please visit www.iirme.com or www.informaexhibitions.com.

About Karl Storz:
For more information about Karl Storz, please visit www.karlstorz.com.

For media enquiries please contact:
Inga Stevens
PR Manager
Life Science Division
IIR Middle East
T: +971 4 407 2743
F: +971 4 336 4021
inga.stevens@iirme.com