Value-based healthcare in the GCC: achieving sustainable access to specialty pharmaceuticals

The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) nations are at a critical juncture in healthcare, facing a dual challenge: a rising burden of complex, high-cost medical conditions—including cancer, neurological disorders, and rare diseases—and the escalating expense of specialty pharmaceuticals^.

Traditional volume-based healthcare models are proving inadequate to ensure sustainable and equitable patient access to these life-changing therapies. To navigate this, the GCC is undergoing a strategic transition to Value-Based Healthcare (VBH), a framework designed to align healthcare spending with demonstrable patient outcomes, thereby promoting sustainability and improved health results through innovation.

This review, developed through a narrative synthesis of academic literature and policy frameworks, was critically informed by a qualitative consensus process involving 24 multidisciplinary key opinion leaders from across the GCC. The experts focused on implementing VBH principles for high-cost therapeutic areas. Key structural challenges identified include fragmented health data systems, insufficient local research, and nascent Health Technology Assessment (HTA) capacity. While HTA determines what technologies are worth paying for, VBH dictates how care should be delivered and rewarded based on performance, making them highly complementary tools.

Across the GCC, readiness for VBH adoption is progressing, though unevenly.

• Saudi Arabia is aggressively pursuing its Vision 2030 health reforms, leveraging digital health, centralized procurement, and prioritizing specialized care in oncology and rare diseases.
• The UAE has cemented its commitment with a dedicated HTA roadmap to enforce evidence-based, cost-effective decision-making
• Qatar shows strong institutional readiness due to a highly centralized system and advanced digital infrastructure, supporting robust outcome monitoring.
• Kuwait, Oman, and Bahrain are in earlier phases, with reforms primarily focused on improving quality and strategic visions, while standardized outcome-based models are still being developed

To accelerate a coordinated, region-wide VBH ecosystem, a phased roadmap is recommended.

• Near-term efforts should focus on widespread adoption of innovative financing tools, such as Managed Entry Agreements (MEAs), along with integrating patient-reported outcomes.
• Mid-term goals involve harmonizing HTA processes and establishing a regional Real-World Evidence (RWE) consortium to address data gaps and foster inter-country collaboration.
• The long-term vision requires the establishment of unified digital ecosystems and sophisticated value-based pricing platforms to replace traditional cost-effectiveness thresholds that often undervalue specialty treatment.

Ultimately, the successful future of specialty care in the GCC hinges on a shared commitment to collaborative and equitable policies, backed by investment in data and a unified focus on an outcomes-driven system. This equitable and coordinated approach is key to securing sustainable and inclusive access to life-saving specialty drugs across the Gulf.

Reference Source
Hamad A, Al-Jedai A, Ojeil R, Al-Jazairi AS, AlAssy A, AlRuthia YS, Al Naeem W, Almudaiheem H, Alsaadi M, Alagil N, Wahba L, Marghalani A, Al Hashar A, AlShehry AO, Alblooshi S, Alharbi I, Moukarzel MB, Albalushi S, El-Sheashaey AM, Aseeri MA, Alenezy F, Adheir F, Aloumi A, Alnoaimi R and AlNaqbi KA (2025) Driving the future of value-based healthcare in the Gulf Cooperation Council: a roadmap for achieving sustainable access to specialty pharmaceuticals. Frontiers in Public Health 13:1667846. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2025.1667846.