From supply resilience to early detection, the UAE’s healthcare progress is being shaped through long-term partnerships
- By:
- Ashraf Mallak | Partner Content
In the UAE, healthcare is never treated as a standalone sector.
It is closely tied to the country’s broader ambitions: economic strength, quality of life, and the ability to remain resilient in a rapidly changing world.
That approach is reflected in We the UAE 2031, where healthcare is positioned as a driver of national progress, with a clear goal: to rank among the world’s leading healthcare systems for quality of care.
For the private sector, this ambition comes with a clear expectation. Not just to operate within the system, but to help strengthen it for the long term.
Healthcare progress, after all, is built through partnership
Regulators shape the frameworks that protect patients and ensure trust. Industry partners bring innovation, scale, and operational agility. When these roles are aligned, healthcare systems become more reliable, innovation moves faster, and patients benefit from solutions that respond to real‑world needs.
MSD, known as Merck & Co. Inc., Rahway, New Jersey, USA in the United States and Canada, is a global research-driven biopharmaceutical company focused on developing medicines and vaccines to address some of the world’s most significant health challenges.
MSD’s partnership with the UAE spans more than four decades. Over that time, our focus has remained consistent: bringing innovation in vaccines and medicines to patients across the UAE and the wider region, ensuring continuity of supply, and investing in local capabilities that strengthen the broader healthcare ecosystem.
This focus has taken on added importance in the past five years. In step with accelerating innovation, MSD has expanded its partnerships across new areas, with a stronger focus on advancing expertise, building capabilities, and supporting the next phase of healthcare transformation in the UAE.
And as global pressures on pharmaceutical supply chains have increased, resilience has become a shared priority. The UAE has emerged as a trusted anchor in regional and international supply, supported by a mature regulatory environment and close coordination between public authorities and industry.
Through this collaboration, operational plans can adapt dynamically to changes in demand, while maintaining stability in the market and continuity of care for patients.
Policy plays a central role in making this possible
The Emirates Drug Establishment (EDE) has helped create an environment where efficiency and safety move hand in hand, one that allows innovation to reach patients without compromising trust. This balance gives healthcare partners the confidence to plan, invest, and respond effectively, even in times of uncertainty.
Partnership in the UAE also extends well beyond supply.
In Abu Dhabi, MSD’s collaboration with the Department of Health has evolved into broader, future‑focused engagement. In 2022, both parties signed a declaration of collaboration covering scientific research, education and innovation.
In 2023, a UAE delegation visited MSD Research Laboratories in Boston, reinforcing a shared commitment to science, capability building, and long‑term system readiness.
More recently, in 2024, a non-binding MoU was signed with a focus on clinical research around lung cancer.
Innovation continues to shape healthcare delivery and patient care, and MSD continues to advance its pipeline across future-focused areas, reflecting our commitment to addressing evolving patient needs through innovation.
National efforts in disease prediction and data driven healthcare are enabling more precise, personalised approaches to care.
And at the heart of this progress are patients, and engaging them through targeted awareness campaigns that promote early detection remains key.
Here, through flagship initiatives such as EMBRACE, MSD’s breast cancer awareness campaign, we continue to expand our reach and impact year on year. Over the past five years, we have worked with a diverse network of partners, including the Ministry of Health and Population, Abu Dhabi Department of Health, Friends of Cancer Patients, Emirates Airlines, Deliveroo, MAF Group, and others, united by a shared purpose to promote the early detection and diagnosis of breast cancer.
When it comes to prevention and access to medicines, MSD’s impact has been significant. In the UAE, prevention has long been a national priority, and MSD has supported national prevention efforts through the introduction of innovative vaccines and collaboration with healthcare stakeholders. These efforts helped reduce burden of diseases such as HPV-related diseases through proactive care.
Yet access involves more than availability alone
Well-designed patient support programmes, when aligned with national standards, reflect the importance of coordination across the healthcare ecosystem in delivering real outcomes. They play a key role in advancing health equity and improving access to medicines, supporting the UAE’s national health agenda.
In parallel, through programmes such as TaPhaol for pulmonary arterial hypertension and AWN for cancer patients, MSD has introduced landmark initiatives in collaboration with partners including Friends of Cancer Patients and the Emirates Oncology Society, a long-standing strategic partner with whom we work closely alongside healthcare professionals to support the delivery of world-class cancer care across the region.
That coordination increasingly happens at scale
Industry associations, regulators, manufacturers, and logistics partners work together to align supply with demand and anticipate emerging needs. This shared approach not only strengthens health system preparedness, but also reinforces the UAE’s position as a leading healthcare hub regionally and globally.
Looking ahead, MSD’s commitment to the UAE remains long term
We will continue to invest in partnerships that support innovation, strengthen supply resilience, and build local expertise so medicines and vaccines are available when patients need them most.
Because healthcare progress is not defined only by today’s achievements.
It is measured by how prepared we are for tomorrow.
And in the UAE, that preparedness is being built steadily, collaboratively, and with a clear vision for a stronger, more resilient, and sustainable healthcare future.
Disclaimer: This article is sponsored by MSD.
– Ashraf Mallak is the associate vice president and managing director, MSD Gulf countries, Libya and Egypt.
Source: Khaleej Times