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Drug resistance
World Health Day was held on 7 April, enabling the World
Health Organisation to highlight an increasingly worrisome
situation in healthcare – the growing resistance to
antimicrobial medication and the steadily decreasing cure
rates because of it. In an important news feature, we intend
to raise awareness of this major problem, and advise what
can be done to combat drug resistance.
An informative report from Qatar looks at the provision
of health services in the country in comparison to other
developing and advanced economies. The results of recent
studies show that Qatar has come a long way in the past
decade, but that there is still room for improvement.
Physicians and healthcare workers across the region are all playing their part
in
improving healthcare in a variety of ways. We look at an early-warning scoring
tool
for paediatric patients, developed by healthcare professionals at Tawam Hospital
in Al
Ain, UAE, that is showing great benefit by checking early signs of deterioration
in
hospitalised children and initiating timely clinical intervention.
In the past couple of months there have been several important medical
breakthroughs
in the news. We report on the world’s first bionic eye to receive the CE Mark
– a retinal implant that can restore light perception to individuals who have
been
blinded by macular degeneration or retinitis pigmentosa. It is early days for
this
device, but the outlook looks extremely promising. In another of our highlighted
examples, a new pneumonia vaccine has been launched recently which has the
potential to prevent the loss of tens of millions of lives. This is a
ground-breaking
development, particularly for the many young children who currently succumb to
this
disease each year. Also in the news is a breakthrough in the diagnosis of
prostate
cancer, simplifying and making more accurate the diagnosis of this disease which
afflicts so many men around the world.
Each year winter in Egypt takes its toll on those infected with Avian Influenza.
In
fact, the infection rate in the country has climbed to a point that Egypt is now
considered
the new epicenter of H5N1. Read about this on page 30. In a very comprehensive
issue you’ll also find articles about cervical cancer, clinical research, and
new
medical products – part of our aim in keeping you abreast of the fast-changing
healthcare
situation in the Middle East, and the world.
And finally, like most people in this part of the world, we’ve struggled to keep
up
with all the personnel changes in local hospitals and practices in the last
couple of
years. We often only find out that doctors have moved on when they contact us
complaining that we’ve stopped sending them their favourite magazine!
Unfortunately, we’re not telepathic, and that’s why you’ll find the ‘renewal’
insert
in this copy. Whether you’ve moved on or not, if you want to keep receiving
Middle
East Health completely free-of-charge, PLEASE COMPLETE THE INSERT AND
SEND IT BACK TO US. If you don’t, you won’t stay on our database, and you
won’t get the magazine again after the summer. If you know someone else who’s
moved on, or who would qualify to receive it, then please photocopy or scan the
insert, and ask them to complete and return it to us. As always, we want to
ensure
that we reach all senior medical professionals in the region – many thanks in
advance for your co-operation.
Brian Wilkie
Publisher
wilkiexp@emirates.net.ae |
(May-Jun 2011)
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