Iraq Healthcare (Surgical Procedures) Market

Iraq is one of the fastest growing economies in Middle East and North Africa (MENA) attributed by the flourishing oil sector that is helping the domestic government to improve health care services. The Iraq health care system is managed by mixed initiatives of public and private sector; wherein the public sector covers approximately 75% of all health care facilities, and the private sector represents the remaining 25%. Iraq has improved its health care system after years of war. The booming petroleum industry is helping the Government of Iraq to invest in improving health care services and develop medical infrastructure. Furthermore, the burden of non-communicable diseases is increasing significantly, which has created a significant demand for medical equipment and services in Iraq. This industry assessment focuses on understanding the growth prospects and current situation of various surgical procedures that are major applications of medical devices.

Among the major surgical procedures considered to be performed in the country, that include cardiac procedures, general surgeries, orthopedic surgeries, neurosurgeries and reconstructive surgeries; cardiac procedures emerged as the segment leader in terms of revenue in 2013. The substantiating factors behind such rapid growth of the segment are rise in prevalence of diabetes population susceptible to cardiovascular diseases and increasing base of target patient population requiring surgical procedures for their survival. According to the Iraqi Diabetes Association (IDA), there were around 1.2 million cases of diabetes in Iraq in 2014. Approximately 387 million people suffer from diabetes globally, of these more than 37 million people are from MENA. IDA also estimated that this number would increase to 68 million by 2035. Consequently, the rise in prevalence of diabetes population would lead to increase in cardiovascular diseases in Iraq. Other risk factors associated with cardiovascular diseases such as early onset hypertension, dyslipedemia, and obesity also contribute significantly towards increasing the overall CVD burden in Iraq. Thus, with the increase in number of cardiovascular patients and stable industry condition in Iraq, the flourishing healthcare industry trend of the country is expected to continue in the near future. 

Iraq healthcare industry is highly fragmented in nature, due to the presence of many international as well as domestic market players including distributors. However, few multinational market players such as Siemens Healthcare, Phillips Healthcare, and Medtronic plc, among others dominate the medical device industry in Iraq. Other players (including manufacturers and distributors) operating in the industry include Rudolf Riester GmbH, Minas Company, Ismailiya Medical Co., Albanna Group, GE Healthcare, MAQUET and Stryker Corporation; that cumulatively accounted for a share of over 40% in 2013. The market leadership of such players was attributed to several factors such as commercial availability of products, superior distribution channels, and demand satisfying supply capabilities.