Sharif Bishara: Transparency in the health sector begins with revealing mistakes, not hiding them

Dubai: Sherif Bishara, CEO of Mohammed & Obaid Al Mulla Group and CEO of the American Hospital Group, emphasised that protecting patients and the reputation of the healthcare sector is a shared responsibility, and that true transparency requires acknowledging and addressing errors rather than concealing them. This came during the "Government Communication... People-Centered" session at the Arab Media Summit 2026 in Dubai. The session, moderated by Hamed Bin Karam, Editor-in-Chief of Al Bayan newspaper, discussed the relationship between media and the healthcare sector, the role of communication in managing health awareness, overseas treatment, health insurance, reputation management, complaints, and the future of the relationship between healthcare institutions and media platforms. Bishara stressed that the health sector cannot view its relationship with the media as a commercial relationship measured by direct profit and loss, explaining that health is an “industry and investment,” but dealing with it with the logic of commerce alone leads to reducing many initiatives to one question: What will we gain and what will we lose? He added that health institutions are required to look at the bigger picture, especially since the media plays a direct role in shaping and managing the health awareness of society. Therefore, the contribution of the health sector to supporting professional media capable of providing correct medical information is not a matter of propaganda, but rather part of its responsibility towards society. Bishara stressed that Dubai’s experience offers a different model in the relationship between the public and private sectors, saying that in Dubai the two sectors should not be viewed as separate paths when it comes to the emirate’s strategic goals. He explained that what distinguishes Dubai is the ability of the public and private sectors to move within a common direction and strategy, noting that when a private health institution talks about the health strategy in Dubai, it is not supposed to present a vision that contradicts the general direction, because the ultimate goal is one, which is to improve the quality of the health sector and enhance the position of the emirate. He stressed that the responsibility for the reputation of the health sector does not fall on government agencies or hospitals alone, saying, “The reputation of health in Dubai is our responsibility, and the reputation of health in the Emirates is our responsibility,” which requires moving from narrow institutional competition to a broader concept based on protecting the patient and the quality of the entire system. International treatment Regarding the issue of treatment abroad, Bishara explained that there should be a precise strategy that defines the mechanisms for selecting medical institutions and doctors from whom patients receive treatment, instead of dealing with travel for treatment as an end in itself. He said that just as there are devices and systems inside hospitals to measure the quality of treatment, there is a need for a device that monitors and measures the quality of treatment outside the country for patients who are sent for treatment, noting that the decision to travel alone does not guarantee better care. He warned against the belief that simply going to a country known for its medical expertise automatically means access to the best treatment, explaining that a single hospital may include dozens or hundreds of specialties, and each specialty has different levels of expertise, and results vary from one doctor to another. He added that the real question should not be: “Which country will the patient travel to?” but rather: Which hospital? In which specialty? With which doctor? What are the results of this doctor? And does he really represent the best option for the case? He stressed that these details make the management of treatment abroad “a system no less important than the health system itself,” which calls for a very clear strategy for treatment abroad, starting with assessing the case and choosing the appropriate medical destination, and ending only with monitoring the results and the quality of care that the patient received. Bishara pointed out that one of the basic criteria for the maturity of the health system is the ability of institutions to refer the patient to the most efficient entity for treatment, even if it is another institution, instead of keeping him for financial reasons. He explained that if a patient arrives at the American Hospital needing a procedure for which the required expertise is lacking, while that expertise is available at another hospital, medical responsibility dictates transferring the patient to the facility that can provide the best care. He emphasised that the patient must be the focus of decision-making, not the financial returns of the institution, warning that prioritising commercial interests over the patient's medical well-being harms the healthcare system a