Inauguration of new clinic for treatment of diabetes and obesity in United Arab Emirates
Global Health Partner is officially inaugurating its new clinic in Ajman in the United Arab Emirates on 17 June 2010. In May 2009 an agreement was entered into with the Ministry of Health in the United Arab Emirates regarding the setting up and running of a clinic with the focus on the treatment of diabetes and obesity. The first obesity operations have already been performed and the doctors’ office for diabetes patients has started. “The occurrence of obesity and diabetes is very high in the Middle East. Scientific studies have shown that obesity operations have a very positive effect on diabetes as well, and through this unique clinic Global Health Partner has now gained the opportunity to be in the forefront with regard to the evaluation of this,” says Per Båtelson, Global Health Partner’s CEO.
Ajman is an emirate that is approximately fifty kilometres from Dubai. The clinic, which is the first of its kind in the region with a combination of highly specialised obesity and diabetes care, is immediately adjacent to the public Sheikh Khalifa Hospital. The clinic will initially focus on outpatient care, with limited volumes of surgical inpatient care as a complement, where the aim is to expand the inpatient care over time. The agreement with the Ministry of Health means that Global Health Partner has full responsibility for leading and running the business. The contract period is initially five years from the signing of the agreement in May 2009 and payment to Global Health Partner is a combination of a fixed fee for running the business and for management responsibility and a flexible fee for the surgery performed.
The prevalence of obesity in the United Arab Emirates is approximately 30% and just over 20% of the population suffers from diabetes. This means that the United Arab Emirates is one of the countries in the world with the highest prevalence of both obesity and diabetes. Diabetes type II is a commonly occurring secondary disease in people suffering from obesity and can lead to complications in the feet, eyes, kidneys, heart etc. In many countries diabetes is the single most expensive disease for society. In recent years many scientific studies have been able to show that obesity operations performed on patients with both obesity and diabetes lead to the diabetes totally regressing in 50-80% of the patients and to other patients improving considerably. Other weight-reducing treatment can also lead to diabetes type II improving significantly. Institutions and organisations in various parts of the world are therefore beginning to look at the advantages of combining these areas of treatment.
The clinic in Ajman has been set up in collaboration with Skåne University Hospital via Skåne Care, which is Region Skåne’s company for commercial collaboration abroad. Skåne Care contributes with competence in diabetes care, training and quality auditing. The medical competence is provided by the endocrinological clinic at Skåne University Hospital. Here there is long experience and great knowledge of diabetes care.
Global Health Partner has clinics for the treatment of obesity in Stockholm, Lund, Bergen, Birmingham, Cairo, Helsinki and Prague. The clinics are run under the name of Bariatric Centers within Service Line Bariatrics.
16 June 2010
Gothenburg, Sweden
Global Health Partner AB (publ)
Queries should be addressed to:
Per Båtelson, CEO, phone +46 705 95 57 00
Anna Ahlberg, Head of Investor Relations, phone +46 708 55 38 35
Global Health Partner is an internationally active healthcare provider that operates specialist clinics in a select number of treatment areas through the application of a business model that is unique in the healthcare industry, where leading doctors become partners and shareholders. Multiple clinics with high patient volumes within the same area of treatment produce increased efficiency and higher quality, which is the cornerstone of Global Health Partner's business philosophy – ”Quality through Specialisation”. Global Health Partner’s shares are traded on the Small Cap list at NASDAQ OMX Stockholm under the abbreviation “GHP.”
Global Health Partner AB (publ) | www.globalhealthpartner.com
Corp. ID No. 556757-1103 | Östra Hamngatan 26-28 | SE-411 09 Gothenburg | Sweden
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This is a translation of the Swedish version of the press release. When in doubt, the Swedish wording prevails.