Aster Bets on Prevention, Tech Follow-up
TDT | Manama
Email : editor@newsofbahrain.com
Aster inaugurated its new Family & Chronic Disease Clinic in Sanad, positioning it as a turning point in Bahrain’s health landscape. Senior leaders pledged to move care beyond ‘sick care’ into prevention, with a focus on early detection, affordable access, and long-term support for patients battling chronic illnesses.
Closing the loop
Dr. Sherbaz Bichu, Chief Executive Officer, Aster Hospitals & Clinics, UAE & Oman, underscored the challenge of patients abandoning treatment midway. He said: “Most of the patients are defaulters. They come, they go, and then they don’t come back again. So we’re going to close the loop by putting in technology and the right doctors to make sure that the patient does not default.”
He added that digital tools like the myAster app would support patients in managing chronic conditions. “We have an app which is already working in many of our hospitals. It’s a chronic disease management app which will give reminders to patients for their medications, ask them to upload their daily activities, their food habits, their sleep. It’s going to be a game changer in making sure people don’t default.”
From sick care to prevention
The CEO stressed a broader shift in healthcare priorities.
“Right now the entire world is having not health care, but sick care. Preventive health is everything, because if you can diagnose your disease much before it comes in, then you are actually taking care of your health. That’s why I believe preventive health is the future.”
He added that Aster’s ethos is built on inclusivity and accessibility. “Affordable access to health care to all is the DNA of Aster. Profit is only a by-product. The focus has to be on the patient and patient care.”
New beginnings
Manish Jain, Deputy CEO, Aster & Access Clinics, UAE & Bahrain, reinforced the long-term vision. “The Sanad clinic is one among the many programmes, and there are many more programmes we have in mind. This is only the beginning.”
Whole-family scope
Family Medicine Specialist Dr. Yusuf Al Tahoo explained how the clinic is designed to deliver comprehensive care. “We are the personification of primary prevention. Family medicine can see males and females, elderly and pediatrics, so we can provide continuity of care across the entire family.”
He added, “We will walk step by step with families to help them manage diabetes, hypertension, thyroid disorders and other chronic conditions, so that these illnesses can be controlled and their complications prevented.”
Regional growth vision
Executives also pointed to Aster’s wider GCC expansion. The CEO said, “We have a large hospital in Riyadh which is doing very well, and another one in Dammam which is coming up. These will complement what we are doing here in Bahrain.”
The launch of the clinic highlights Aster’s strategy to embed prevention, technology, and family-centered care into Bahrain’s health system, shifting the focus from treating sickness to protecting health.
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