At-home blood tests that can identify potential health risks years before symptoms emerge are to become more easily available in the UAE as healthcare providers shift their focus from treatment to prevention.
Health assessments starting from about Dh200 can offer patients insights into their future risk of disease and the lifestyle changes they can make to potentially prevent or delay its onset.
More comprehensive services analyse hundreds of biomarkers, while DNA testing costing several thousand dirhams can provide a directory of detailed genetic information.
The growing market reflects a wider push towards preventive healthcare in the UAE, with new government initiatives in Dubai and Abu Dhabi encouraging residents to take greater control of their long-term health.
Dubai recently launched the Dubai Longevity Authority to encourage people to live healthier lives, free of chronic disease and mental decline. Abu Dhabi has also put preventive healthcare and pre-emptive screening at the forefront of multiple initiatives implemented by the Abu Dhabi Public Health Centre and the Department of Health Abu Dhabi.
Private operators have also stepped up their focus on wellness rather than on responding to ill health.
For Dh599 ($163), Aster promises a home assessment that can help identify health risks based on more than 120 biomarkers extracted from a blood test and a urine sample.
The test promises a comprehensive, personalised health assessment that could help people make more informed lifestyle decisions.
“Once the system has your genetic code and understands what's happening with your microbiome, along with your blood work, it can give a very comprehensive view on where your predispositions may be or some vulnerabilities,” said Alisha Moopen, managing director and chief executive of Aster DM Healthcare.
“It can show how you can address them way earlier to delay or prevent them becoming a problem. But in the wider longevity, 80 per cent of the work needs to be done by the individual.
“If you have the sleep, nutrition, movement and stress management under control, you can benefit from all the other exciting things science is offering.
“People can't go in and sit in a hyperbaric oxygen chamber or talk about doing stem cells or cleansing the blood if you don't have the basics right. Longevity can get you to an amazing health outcome, but just doing the shiny things is throwing away money.”
Full body check
The service is the latest in a long line aiming to capitalise on the booming demand for longevity medicine.
Medcare Hospitals offer a Lab at Home service where qualified technicians visit homes to collect blood and diagnostic samples across Dubai and Sharjah.
Elsewhere, Vesta Care and Health 24/7 offer full-body check-ups, vitamin, hormone and thyroid panels, and routine blood tests at your doorstep, delivered by qualified nurses, with results in 24 hours.
The tests form part of a wider switch in attitudes towards a more preventive health strategy.
Ms Moopen said insurance companies are also beginning to change their approach and support disease prevention.
“My father started off the Aster business being reactive to ill people, but today we can't just be a sick care company,” she said.
“There are companies that sponsor enhanced insurance plans which think about prevention, we do see employers being a lot more pro-employees' health and managing that much more closely. We're seeing that shift, especially in the UAE.”
The recently formed Dubai Longevity Authority is aiming for 31 per cent annual growth in the longevity sector and a Dh35 billion ($9.53 billion) economic boost over the next decade.
Experts, however, said it could be difficult for some to buy into the reality of wellness programmes and avoid being blinded by slick marketing campaigns that fail to deliver results.
The House of Longevity is a research and community platform hoping to capitalise on demand. The platform translates clinical and scientific research into practical guidance across seven pillars of sleep, movement, nutrition, mental health, preventative care, healthy environments, and purpose.
Alex Zagrebelny, founder and CEO of R.Evolution, the company behind the project, said where we live can have a significant impact on how long we live.
“Longevity itself is not an industry,” he said. “As prevention, wellbeing and quality of life become greater priorities, existing industries will need to develop new services, products and infrastructure around them.
“The sheer volume of claims, often based on different levels of evidence, makes it difficult for consumers to understand what is genuinely supported by science and what is simply good marketing.”
Healthy homes
Researchers at the non-profit Global Wellness Institute said property focused on health and wellness was on the rise. Global investment has increased from $151 billion in 2017 to $$876 billion in 2025, the report says.
While longevity may have become a buzzword in healthcare and real estate, Dr Eli Abirached, an expert in recovery and biohacking at Dubai’s Restore Fitness, said consumers should do their own research into what works for them.
“Whenever there is demand, there's always a clever entrepreneur somewhere coming up with the next problem solving and devised path you must take,” he said.
“If you do not have it, you are behind everyone else. Fear of missing out is a great selling, anchor. However, when it comes to biohacking (in health), the equation is incredibly simple.
“When you get a longevity device or sign up to a programme, if you do not have a reason for getting it, then you’re the sucker.”
“If you have a reason, but you're also trying to track the changes that are happening, you've moved from the sucker to adding real value to your life.”