Policy, strategy, digital health and specialised services are the foundations for a new approach, says Policy Writer Sofia Bogdaneris

Dubai has positioned itself at the forefront of healthcare innovation in the Middle East, with women’s health emerging as a national priority. From dedicated policies to innovative digital health and service clinics, the UAE is advancing an integrated, forward-looking approach to women’s health that combines prevention, technology, and personalised care. Three key areas of innovation are reshaping women’s health in Dubai: prioritisation in policy and national strategies, the digital health agenda, and specialised women’s service clinics.

Prioritisation in policy and national strategies
Recent advancements in UAE national policies on women’s health hold promise for institutionalising women’s health at a national level, ensuring it is sustained rather than treated as a temporary priority. The UAE is one of the few countries within the region with a dedicated National Policy for the Promotion of Women’s Health. Announced in 2024, the policy adopts a multi-sectoral approach across the female life span, integrating preventative, curative and rehabilitative strategies. This has already spurred developments in national partnerships, community outreach initiatives, and service-level expansion.

Two notable strengths of the policy are its focus on embedding women’s health services in primary care and prioritising prevention and screening programmes. Services such as cervical cancer screening, breast checks, and menopause management are integrated into everyday care, lowering the need for specialist hospitals and reducing stigma to increase uptake. This mirrors successful approaches from the UK and Nordic countries, where shi„ing resources upstream reduces costly late-stage interventions.

Targets to expand breast and cervical cancer screenings show responsiveness to system-level needs. Research from Zayed University in Dubai identified cervical cancer as the fi„h most common cancer among Emirati women, making up 4.6% of female cancer diagnoses. Yet screening uptake across the broader region remains low, with only around 18.2% of women undergoing regular screening. By tailoring policies to population needs and embedding measurable goals, the UAE is creating a framework that encourages innovation, partnerships, and accountability to enable sustainable improvements in women’s health outcomes.

The digital health agenda
Dubai is also leading innovation in digital health, using technology to extend access, continuity, and awareness across women’s life stages. Aligned with the UAE Digital Health Transformation, the National Backbone for Integrated Dubai Health (NABIDH) introduced by the Dubai Health Authority, establishes a unified electronic medical record system connecting both private and public providers. By 2021, NABIDH linked over 2,000 facilities in Dubai and, by 2022, integrated with Abu Dhabi’s Mala‘i, aligning with the UAE’s federal digital vision.

Women’s health, spanning adolescence to older age, oŸen requires navigating multiple specialties and providers. Historically, fragmented systems have meant that women carried the burden of recounting medical histories, risking missed information crucial for chronic care or reproductive health. NABIDH transforms this by consolidating data across providers and life stages, enabling truly continuous and personalised care. For instance, antenatal records, complications like gestational diabetes, and fertility treatments can now feed into chronic disease prevention programmes providing clinicians with a holistic view of long-term risks and enabling earlier interventions.

Beyond records, Dubai is also leveraging digital campaigns to raise awareness and tackle cultural stigma. With high digital connectivity across the UAE, online platforms provide scalable channels for promoting women’s health literacy. The 2024 campaign OvaSave “Fertility Your Way”, backed by Merck and Dubai Investments, used targeted social media to empower women with knowledge on fertility preservation and reproductive timelines. Such initiatives strengthen digital trust and place the UAE among the few countries to reach the WHO’s highest digital health maturity stage, where digital health is fully embedded into governance.

Specialist women’s service models
A third area of innovation lies in the emergence of specialised women’s service clinics, which are transformative for both clinical delivery and policy. Dubai is now home to women-centric clinics such as the Mubadala Health Women’s Clinic and the Well Woman Clinic, o‘ering integrated services across the life course, from fertility and maternity care to menopause and preventive screenings.

Policy-wise, these clinics align closely with the UAE’s national priorities around prevention, wellness, and healthy ageing. By embedding culturally sensitive, comprehensive services in accessible settings, they ensure that women can proactively manage their health. Public institutions like Latifa Hospital, alongside private sector innovations such as Nabta Health’s stage-tailored care packages, demonstrate how public–private partnerships can deliver continuity of care while also addressing broader challenges such as non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and longevity. These specialised models are transformative because they integrate services, reduce stigma, and shiŸ the focus from reactive to proactive care. By recognising women’s health not as a siloed service but as a driver of population health and system sustainability, Dubai is creating a blueprint for the region and beyond.

Dubai’s approach to women’s health is being redefined through policy prioritisation, digital innovation, and specialised service clinics. These three areas embed women’s health into the mainstream agenda, ensuring continuity, accessibility, and cultural sensitivity across the life course. Importantly, they highlight how women’s health can serve as a strategic entry point for broader health system transformation, from prevention and digitalisation to longevity and wellness. Looking ahead, Dubai has the opportunity to consolidate these innovations into a globally recognised model for women’s health, one that combines prevention, digital integration, and specialised care within a unified strategy. As the UAE continues to invest in wellness and longevity, placing women at the centre of this agenda will not only improve outcomes for half the population but also strengthen families, communities, and the health system as a whole.

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