UAE diabetes plan
THE UAE Ministry of Health (MoH) is developing a unified strategy for diabetes control and prevention, according to a report (28 March 2007) in the Khaleej Times.
The MoH’s strategy would focus on managing the risks associated with diabetes, like obesity, smoking and unhealthy lifestyle. As part of its unified strategy, the ministry will set up mobile screening centres for diabetes, especially in remote areas,” Dr Ali Shukur, under-secretary at the MoH, told the newspaper.
“Doctors should not
merely treat the symptoms
and ignore the other health
complications associated
with the disease. There is an
urgent need for educators
and nutritionists to address
the social challenge posed
by the disease,” Dr Shukur is
quoted as saying.
The Jordan Times reports
that Her Majesty Queen
Rania inaugurated (2 April
2007) the new Queen Rania
Rehabilitation Centre at the
University of Cologne in
Germany, where a memorandum
of understanding
was signed between the
university and the Kingdom
of Jordan’s Royal Medical
Services.
Under the agreement, the rehabilitation centre will offer training programmes, both short-term and longterm practical training, for Jordanian physiotherapists and physicians. The rehabilitation centre specialises in treatment for children with mobility difficulties. Physiotherapists and physicians from the rehabilitation centre will also visit Jordan to provide on-thejob training at the Paediatric Rehabilitation Medical Clinic, part of the Queen Rania Children’s Hospital, which is scheduled to open in 2008.
Queen Rania is the chairperson
of the Royal Health
Awareness Society in Jordan.
The newspaper quoted the
Queen as saying the “centre
offers a prescription of hope
for those children and their
families, who have missed
out on some of the twists
and turns that make the
journey of childhood so
exciting... Combining compassion
and care with cuttingedge
technology and
medical expertise, your
clinic enables children to
stand tall and regain their
mobility one step at a time.”
Harvard Medical School Dubai Center (HMSDC) Institute for Postgraduate Education and Research, in conjunction with Dubai Healthcare City (DHCC), presented the Tamayoz Award to six people in the categories of Nursing and Healthcare Professionals, Trainees and Young Physicians.
The HMSDC “Tamayoz” Awards recognise achievements in clinical care and medical research. The winners received a onemonth observership at a Harvard-affiliated hospital or laboratory in Boston, Massachusetts. The awards are designed to stimulate the academic careers of young healthcare professionals.
“We are committed to recognising the contributions of individual practitioners and trainees in addition to reinforcing the importance of education and research in the medical community. These awards will focus the spotlight on Dubai as a place for nurturing an innovative and expert medical practice,” said Dr Muhadditha Al Hashimi, CEO of Dubai Healthcare City.
Dr Hashimi said the awards are being positioned as the Oscars of the region’s medical and healthcare sector. Recipients of the Tamayoz Awards were selected by a panel comprising faculty members from Harvard Medical School The awards for Nursing and Healthcare Professionals were presented to Miharu Yamakawa, BSc, a graduate physical therapist specialising in orthopaedics and paediatrics and Einas Al-Eisa MSc, PhD, a graduate physical therapist. Yamakawa works as a Treating Physiotherapist at the Emirates Integrated Medical Center in Dubai. Al-Eisa is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Health Rehabilitation at King Saud University.
The Trainee Awards were given to Nabeela Ahmed, MClin Dent, BDS and Subhi J Al’ Aref. Ahmed is a senior registrar in Paediatric Dentistry at the Department of Health and Medical Services in Dubai and has a record of extensive training in a broad range of clinical areas. Al’ Aref is a third year medical student at Weill Cornell Medical School in Qatar and an active member of the research team on cystic fibrosis.
The Young Physician
Awards went to Ali Al-
Obaidli, consultant
Nephrologist and chief of
Transplant Services at
Sheikh Khalifa Medical City
in Abu Dhabi and Khawla S.
Al-Kuraya, MD, director of a
research centre at King
Faisal Specialist Hospital
and Research Center in
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Gulf News reports (6 April 2007) that UAE President Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, in his capacity as Ruler of Abu Dhabi, has issued a decree setting up the Abu Dhabi Health Services Company (adhsc) as a public joint stock company.
The company, called Sihha, will have a capital of Dh1 billion (US$272 million) equally distributed at a nominal value of Dh1 per share, all of which shall be fully paid and owned by the government.
Ownership of all Abu
Dhabi government health
and medical facilities, properties,
staff and all agreements
shall be transferred to
the new company by virtue
of a decree by the Abu
Dhabi Executive Council,
the decree says.
According to a report in Gulf News, an independent centre dedicated to diabetes is in the works for Dubai, with officials expecting to break ground by December this year.
Qadi Saeed Al Murooshid,
director-general of the Dubai
Department of Health and
Medical Services (DoHMS)
told the newspaper that the
health authority was finalising
details with US-based
Joslin Diabetes Centre,
which will partner with
DoHMS in the establishment
and running of the
new centre, to be located
near Rashid Hospital.
WorldCare is to build the Middle East’s largest wellness centre at phase II of Dubai HealthCare City (DHCC) at a cost of Dh1 billion (US$272 million). The WorldCare Wellness Center will be developed with the US-based Duke University Health System and Partners Healthcare International.
According to a report in Gulf News the WorldCare Wellness Center will be directly connected to their academic consortium through the WorldCare’s Global Telemedicine network.
The WorldCare Wellness
Center will include a 400-
room five-star hotel, prevention
and screening
programme, medical spa,
and weight management
programme, as well as three
restaurants specialising in
healthy cuisine.
In Saudi Arabia the Ministry of Health is planning to turn primary health centres into mini hospitals with advanced facilities, according to a report in Arab News (31 March 2007).
The initiative is intended to reduce pressure on general hospitals throughout the kingdom. The newspaper says the move is set against a backdrop of plans to privatise state hospitals.
However, Dr Khaled
Mirghalani, spokesperson for
the Ministry of Health, said
the ministry would continue
to run the country’s primary
health care centres, provide
child and mother care and
take steps for protection
against chronic and contagious
diseases.
Dr Azad Moopen, an entrepreneur whose company, Moopen Group, manages 40 healthcare centres and pharmacies in the UAE, is investing more than Dh900 million (US$250 million) in setting up 60 more outlets across the region – including 10 hospitals. “We will have 100 healthcare centres including 10 hospitals in three years,” Dr Azad Moopen, chairman of Moopen Group, told Gulf News.
Moopen Group, has
recently opened a Dh120
million, 60-bed hospital,
Medcare, in Jumeirah, Dubai.
This will be expanded to a
100-bed facility in the
coming years.
A committee has been set up in Dubai by the Dubai Executive Council and the Department of Health and Medical Services (DoHMS) to prepare the groundwork for restructuring Dubai’s health sector, according to a report in Gulf News (1 April 2007).
The initiative is part of the so-called Dubai Strategy launched recently by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai.
According to the report the committee is tasked with drawing up a public health plan, improving the quality of health and medical services to meet global standards, ensuring access to affordable healthcare for all and increasing public health awareness.
The committee will establish
operating and training
processes for medical
centres, regulate the production
and import of foods
and drugs, and help public
and private sector companies
in implementing
employee health awareness
and healthcare programmes.
Iran’s Isfahan Medical University and the Ministry of Health of Malaysia signed a memorandum of understanding (15 April) to expand co-operation in the medical science, health and treatment sectors.
Shahin Shirani, chancellor of Isfahan Medical University, is quoted by IRNA as saying: “The MoU will prepare the grounds for the university to make use of Malaysia’s experience in the health and medical fields. The academics of the university will be able to put forward their knowledge and experiences to the Asian country.”
The improvement in health standards is also a key point of the MoU, according to IRNA. Kamran Baqeri Lankarani, Iran’s Minister of Health, said Tehran has attached great importance to the expansion of political and economic relations with Kuala Lumpur in the past few years, adding that there were several shared interests in the field of health.
He said the two countries were interested in bilateral co-operation with regards to medical sciences education, vaccine production, and traditional and herbal medicine.
He pointed out that
women’s health, the fight
against non-contagious
diseases and the antismoking
campaign were
among the main programmes
of Iran’s health ministry.
In Saudi Arabia, Hamad Al-Manie, the Minister of Health, inaugurated the Advanced Cardiac Imaging Conference at the Prince Salman Heart Center in King Fahd Medical City (KFMC) in Riyadh on 14 April.
Speaking at the event, the minister said the kingdom faced the danger of a 400% increase in the incidence of heart diseases. He also called for better health awareness among Saudis, adding that the main cause for heart diseases in Saudi Arabia was diabetes.
“Our first priority is to increase health awareness in the kingdom, especially among diabetes patients,” he said.
According to a report in
Arab News he said KFMC
would not only be a worldclass
centre for curing heart
diseases, but also for
tumours, adding that Crown
Prince Sultan, deputy
premier and minister of
defence and aviation, had
donated SR70 million (about
US$18.6 million) to KFMC to
construct its special soon-toopen
tumour centre.
Thalassemia, the inherited blood disease which is carried by as many as one in ten Emirati nationals, can easily be prevented, say local healthcare experts, and could be totally eradicated from the country in as little as 10 years.
The underlying issue that allows the disease to be carried from one generation to the next is one of insufficient general education about the Thalassemia disease among the country’s growing population.
“Carriers of Thalassemia live normal lives, but when they marry other carriers and have children, the disease then passes to their children who suffer from the ailments of the disease rather than merely acting of carriers of the Thalassemia gene,” said Dr Khawla Belhoul, director of Dubai Thalassemia Center.
“And most carriers don’t
even know that they are
carriers. That’s where a
simple pre-marital blood
test can help. We strongly
encourage all young adults
to take a simple, inexpensive,
and painless blood test
before getting married,”
added Dr Belhoul.
In a strong, public show of
support and compassion for
patients with Thalassemia
and their families, a ‘Tour of
Hope’ was held at the end of
April, with participants traveling
to all seven emirates in
the UAE to communicate
that living with Thalassemia
can be made easier and life
more enjoyable.
Iran’s Ministry of Health, Treatment and Medical Education announced in April that pharmacists in the country are producing Pegilated Interferon. The drug is used to promote immunity against certain chronic diseases.
Kamran Baqeri-Lankarani, Minister of Health, said: “Production is at the laboratory phase and this has proved effective.”
According to IRNA he said
the drug will be marketed
after passing approval and
registration procedures.
Kuwaiti investors are seeking government approval to launch a medical city near Amman at a cost of US$3-5 billion, according to a statement by the official
Jordanian news agency, Petra. The project will include hospitals with the latest medical technology, hotels, entertainment centres, swimming pools and gardens.
A report carried in the Jordan Times (24 April) says the Kuwaiti application offered the Jordan’s Social Security Cooperation, one of the largest financial institutions in the Kingdom, a partnership deal.
According to the report knowledgeable medical officials described the project as “a new type of service to the region including organ transplant, stem cell research and new methods in treating complicated diseases”.
If the project goes ahead
according to plan, the
medical city would be ready
to receive its first patient by
2012.
Cameroonian conjoined twins were successfully separated 21 April following a 10-hour operation at King Abdul Aziz Medical City in Riyadh, according to a report in Arab News.
The twins were joined at the area of the chest, the abdomen and the pelvis. Each of them has a single lower limb but they shared a third one.
The marathon surgery began at 7.30am and was performed by a 65-member medical team, which included 10 Saudi women surgeons the operation was carried out in 10 phases.
In response to an appeal
made by the parents of the 13-month-old twin girls
Phambom and Shefbou,
Custodian of the Two Holy
Mosques King Abdullah
issued a directive to conduct
the surgery at his expense.
Dr Mazin Jawad Jaffer Al Khabori, head of ENT department in Al Nahda hospital, Oman, has been awarded the coveted Karl Storz award for excellence in teaching. Dr Mazin was selected for his untiring commitment to advancing continuous medical education for otolaryngologists in the AGCC and Middle East.
Dr Mazin received the award
at the Middle East Update in
otolaryngology conference
held in Dubai recently.
Bahrain’s Gulf Daily News reports (19 April) that hospitals in the island state will have to comply with new international standards within three months, under orders from the health ministry. The move is aimed at further enhancing Bahrain's health care standards.
Dr Tawfeeq Naseeb, the health ministry head of licensing and registration, told the newspaper that they had studied the experience of countries like Australia, New Zealand, UK and Singapore and finally adopted the Australian standards and “modified it to suit our requirements”.
Three types of standards
are being developed, said Dr
Naseeb. These are operational,
facility and licence
holder standards.
The order is applicable to
both government and
private hospitals.
