Few counties in the world can claim the kind of dramatic improvement in the health of its citizens that the UAE has seen in the last few decades. This rapid health transition, however, while leading to a decrease of many common diseases has also resulted in the increase of new types of illnesses. Acute infectious diseases have been replaced by chronic and non-communicable disease like diabetes and heart illnesses. These new diseases are more costly to care for and cause high levels of disability in those affected by it. As the health transition is also followed by a demographic composition. The result is an inevitable increase in the cost of health service in the UAE in the years to come. The lecture thus focused on the options available reduce the cost of care and to prevent non-communicable diseases. It also looked at other threats such as the risk of emerging infectious diseases, new forms of drug resistance to existing diseases, especially in the less-affluent countries in the region, and the possibility that such diseases would indirectly affect the health situation in the UAE.