Singapore: IHH Healthcare hospitals in India admitted fewer patients from the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia due to conflict in the Middle East, CEO Prem Kumar Nair said in an interview at the Reuters NEXT Asia conference in Singapore.
IHH’s hospitals in Singapore have also been affected by the conflict as the company has long-term contracts with Middle-Eastern health authorities to take in critical cases.
IHH is one of the world’s largest private healthcare groups. It operates more than 80 hospitals across 10 countries including Malaysia and Turkey.
The U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran has created one of the most uncertain periods for business in recent history, some corporate executives said at the conference, due to soaring energy prices, fractured supply chains and trade routes severed by disruption in the Strait of Hormuz.
On Wednesday, the U.S. military launched strikes on Iran to keep the Strait of Hormuz open to shipping, triggering Iranian attacks on Kuwait and Bahrain where the U.S. has military bases.
IHH in May said the impact of geopolitical developments was limited and largely mitigated by its diversified geographic footprint.
Nair, a physician and healthcare executive with over three decades of experience in the sector, took the helm of IHH in late 2023.
IHH has a market capitalisation of around $18 billion, LSEG data showed. It is one of the world’s biggest private healthcare providers with hospital brands including Acibadem and Gleneagles, its website showed.
