Vaccinating the world against Covid-19 will remain a core priority in 2022, however, healthcare systems will also need to start tackling a backlog of non-Covid care.
Economist Intelligence Unit
Ana Nicholls, director of industry operations at EIU
Mon, 06th Dec 2021
Key messages
Healthcare has never been more important to the global economy than during the past two years, and it will be central to the economic recovery.
Vaccinating the world against Covid-19 will remain a core priority in 2022, however, healthcare systems will also need to start tackling a backlog of non-Covid care.
Free to download, this report provides exclusive insight into the EIU’s key forecasts for the healthcare industry in 2022. We also examine the challenges facing the sector and the trends to watch for next year.
As part of our industry outlook for 2022, EIU has taken a look at the growth prospects, top risks and key trends facing the healthcare sector next year.
Healthcare has never been more important to the global economy than during the past two years, and it will be central to the economic recovery. However, global spending growth will slow to 4.1%, despite rising costs, as governments start to assess the economic damage wreaked by the pandemic.
There will be more money available for healthcare systems in 2022, but it’s doubtful whether it will be enough to cope with the demand for both Covid and non-Covid treatment.
Tackling the huge backlog of diagnoses, surgeries and other treatment will be very difficult, given staff fatigue after the pandemic.
Competition for international healthcare workers could get intense.
Ana Nicholls, director of industry operations at EIU
Key things to watch for in 2022:
- There will be fewer unexpected medical bills: The US No Surprises Act seeks to protect consumers from unexpectedly high medical bills when they seek treatment from out-of-network providers. It will become effective in the US from January 2022.
- Africa’s vaccine-manufacturing capacity will expand: Less than 5% of Africa’s population is fully vaccinated against the coronavirus, partly because of problems with securing supplies. From late 2022 the Pasteur institute of Dakar in Senegal will start producing 25m doses of coronavirus vaccines a month, with international backing.
- The EU will tighten medtech regulations: The In Vitro Diagnostic (IVD) Medical Devices regulation, agreed in 2017, will be enforced across the EU from May 2022, setting uniform safety standards for the notified bodies that approve IVDs.
- China will tighten regulation of health apps: Under its 14th five-year plan, China aims to integrate telehealth services into the basic health-insurance system, to alleviate pressure on overcrowded hospitals. However, the government also wants better regulation of health apps such as Tencent’s We Doctor, Ping An’s Good Doctor and Ali Health.
For more insights into how the healthcare sector will fare next year, download our “Healthcare in 2022” report.
Originally published at https://www.eiu.com on December 6, 2021.
