Opening of Medlab Middle East in Dubai

Sheikh Mansoor bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice Chairman of Dubai Health, opened today Medlab Middle East at the Dubai World Trade Centre.

The event, concluding on February 8th, reigns as the region's biggest medical laboratory exhibition and congress, holding immense significance in propelling the field of laboratory medicine forward, both regionally and internationally.

Sheikh Mansoor was accompanied by Helal Saeed Al Marri, Director General of Dubai's Department of Economy and Tourism, during his visit to the exhibition. He visited the pavilions of the USA, Germany, and Spain, besides the stands of Pure Lab, Revvity, Abbott, Babirus and Beckman Coulter among others.

The 2024 edition features over 900 exhibiting companies from more than 40 countries, showcasing the latest laboratory innovations across eight product categories, namely Disposables and Consumer Goods, Emergency Medicine, Imaging and Diagnostics, Healthcare and General Services, IT, Laboratory, Medical Equipment and Devices, and Pharma and Nutrition.

Commenting on the opening of the 23rd edition of Medlab Middle East, Tom Coleman, Exhibition Director, said, “Last year was a record-breaking year for Medlab Middle East, where AED1.9 billion of deals were secured. Following on from this success, we are expecting a 20 percent increase in visitor numbers this year, with an estimated 30,000 attendees, and we have some exciting new additions to the event, which will elevate opportunities for knowledge-sharing and business-building even further.”

Underscoring Medlab Middle East’s commitment to innovation, a new NextGen Medicine Zone and Conference has been added to the exhibition this year in partnership with Bahrain-based Express Med Diagnostics. The NextGen Medicine zone occupies 1,500 square metres of exhibition space and features over 100 exhibitors, while a new NextGen Medicine track has been added to the Medlab Middle East Congress.

The Medlab Middle East Congress is the region’s only multi-disciplinary congress and provides 12 CME-accredited live in-person conferences led by more than 130 laboratory industry experts from around the world. Running throughout the four-day exhibition, conference tracks include NextGen Medicine, Laboratory Management, Lab Quality Management, Clinical Chemistry, Immunology, Haematology, Clinical Microbiology, Clinical Genomic Interpretation, Blood Transfusion Medicine, Histapathology, Future of Lab, and Sustainability in the Lab.

On the opening morning of Medlab Middle East, growth strategy consulting firm Frost & Sullivan hosted a think tank on ‘Strategic Investments and Growth Opportunities: Reshaping the Future of Laboratories and Diagnostics Industry in the Middle East.’

Attended by representatives from Abbott, Randox, Thermo Fisher Scientific and Cleveland Clinic, the distinguished panel of healthcare leaders at the think tank addressed key industry topics including the key drivers and challenges for the laboratories and diagnostics sectors in the Middle East, and which technologies are expected to drive growth in the industry in the years ahead.

In other sessions on the opening day, Dr Bernie Croal, President-Elect of The Royal College of Pathologists in the UK, discussed ‘Strategies to ensure that lab testing is focused and safe’ at the Laboratory Management Conference, while Dr Lubna AlZadjali, Consultant Hematopathologist from the Sultan Qaboos Comprehensive Cancer Centre in Muscat, spoke at the Haematology Conference on Haematology laboratory information systems.