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From right to left: Prof. Najib Al Khaja, Mr. Qadhi Saeed Al Murooshid, Director General, Department Of Health & Medical Services (DOHMS), and Professor Per-Gunnar Svensson, Director General of IHF. Prof. Svensson presenting the IHF Award to Dr. Mahmoud Taleb Al Ali. Dr. Mahmoud Taleb Al Ali receiving the trophy from Prof. Svensson.

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The International Hospital Federation honours pioneers in medicine from the United Arab Emirates
11.9.2005

The International Hospital Federation (IHF) has honoured H.H. Sheikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum as the world's best personality in the fields of health, education, and sports for 2001-2005. Sheikh Hamdan, Dubai Deputy Ruler, Minister of Finance and Industry and Head of the Dubai Department of Health and Medical Services, is the first Arab personality who is accorded this honour.

During the functions of the International Medical Diagnostics (IMD-Dubai 2005) Conferences, the IHF also honoured five pioneers in medicine from the United Arab Emirates. Professor Per-Gunnar Svensson, Director General of IHF, presented the Awards for "Health Services Achievements in the Middle East" to Prof. Najib Al Khaja, Dr. Mahmoud Taleb Al Ali, Dr. Sharaban Abdullah, Dr. Awatif Al Bahar, and Dr. Ameena AlMarzouqi for their contributions in health care.

Presently, Professor Najib Al Khaja is the Director of the Cardiology and Cardiothoracic Surgery Centre, Dubai Hospital. He is also Professor and Head of Academic Department of Surgery, Vice-Dean of the Dubai Medical College for Girls, and Member of the Board of Trustees and Secretary General of the Sheikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Award for Medical Sciences. Dr. Al Khaja is also a visiting consultant to the Cardio thoracic Centre in Monaco. Prof. Al Khaja is the member of Scandinavian Association for Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, International College of Angiology, Saudi Heart Association, UAE Medical Association, European Association of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Asian Annals of Cardiothoracic & Vascular Surgery, Emirates Medical Journal - Editorial Board and the Arab Board for Postgraduate Studies. He is also member of the Third World Academy of Science (TWAS). In 1999, Prof.Al Khaja received the award of the "Best Employee of the Year" from the Department of Health and Medical Services (DOHMS) in Dubai. He also received a special award for teh establishment of the Cardiac Surgery Department and his distinguished role in the field in Dubai Hospital under DOHMS.

Dr. Mahmoud Taleb Al Ali is a consultant geneticist and head of Genetics Centre at Al Wasl Hospital Dubai. He is also the Director of the Centre for Arab Genomic Studies. Dr. Al Ali is an adjacent Assistant Professor in the Department of Biochemistry at the Faculty of Medicine & Health Sciences, UAE University. Dr. Al Ali graduated in Laboratory Medicine from University of Kentucky, USA and received his Ph.D. in Biochemistry & Molecular Endocrinology from University of London Medical School. At the present Dr. Al Ali is involved in laboratory diagnosis and research related to inherited metabolic diseases. He has developed a department of metabolic genetics that serves the region.

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Dubai International Medical Care and Diagnostic Conference & Exhibition (IMD Dubai) 2005
10.9.2005

Under the patronage of H.H. Sheikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai, Minister of Finance & Industry, President of the Department of Health and Medical Services, the Dubai International Medical Care and Diagnostic Conference & Exhibition IMD Dubai 2005 was held from 10-12 September, 2005. The event took place in the Dubai International Exhibition Centre, Dubai – United Arab Emirates.

IMD Dubai 2005 included parallel conferences and exhibitions, including:

• Dubai International Emergency and Catastrophe Management Conference and Exhibition
• Dubai International Pathology and Genetics Conference & Exhibition
• Dubai International Obs-Gyne and Fertility Conference and Exhibition
• Dubai International Otorhinolaryngological, Head & Neck Surgery Conference and Exhibition
• Dubai International Hospital Management Conference and Exhibition
• Dubai International Hospital Architectural Design and Biomedical Conference and Exhibition
• Dubai International Surgical Conference & Exhibition
• Pan Regional Nursing Conference
• Dubai International Urology Conference & Exhibition

IMD Dubai 2005 was held in cooperation with the Department of Health & Medical Services, the International Hospital Federation, Charite University Berlin. The conference was supported by the Ministry of Health, Dubai Chamber of Commerce & Industry, Dubai Municipality, Ministry of Interior, Dubai Police General H.Q., Emirates Medical Association, Sheikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Award for Medical Sciences – Centre for Arab Genomic Studies, Medica - Messe Dusseldorf.

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A healthy outlook: The UAE is fast transforming itself into a top-notch healthcare destination
15.1.2005

For a young country that started off with rudimentary healthcare, the UAE has made significant progress to attain world-class infrastructure in the health sector. According to the recently released UN Human Development Report for 2004, the UAE ranks 4th among the Arab nations, and 49th among the 177 member countries in terms of human development.

The report shows the life expectancy of people in the UAE in the past decade has increased by more than 12 years — rising from 62.2 years in 1970-’75 to 74.6 years in 2002. With 98 per cent one-year-olds fully immunised against tuberculosis and 94 per cent one-year-olds fully immunised against measles, there has been a drastic decline in the under-five mortality rate. In 1960, the UAE had one of the worst child mortality records in the world, standing as high as 223 per 1,000. However, by 2002, the under-five mortality rate (U5MR) in the country sharply declined to 9 per 1,000, catapulting UAE’s health status close to that of the developed nations, such as the United States and Britain. Similarly, endemic diseases, as well as malaria, have been virtually eradicated from the country.

It was the late Shaikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan’s vision of attaining the global objective of health for all that led to the adoption of comprehensive health programmes to meet the needs of the UAE nationals. Today, according to the latest UN report, 95-100 per cent of the UAE population has sustainable access to affordable essential medicines. It is difficult to imagine that just a few decades ago, people living in the remote interiors had no access to even the most basic medical care and were dependent on rather primitive traditional remedies for cure.

As a modern welfare state, the UAE continues to invest in health and education as an integral part of national development, setting a striking example of how judicious allocation of resources can bring about an extraordinary growth of the country’s health sector. The budget allocation for the health sector remains one of the highest in the region. The UAE invests an average Dh1.7 billion a year in its health sector. Currently, the UAE has a comprehensive government-funded health service and a budding private health sector. While the public health expenditure stands at 2.6 per cent of the GDP, in the private sector it is only 0.8 per cent.

The number of government hospitals across the country has increased from just 7 in 1971 to 31 by 2001, with several new hospital projects already completed or nearing completion. This year, 17 new hospitals and 25 new primary healthcare centres will be operational. There are massive expansion plans to double the bed capacity in public hospitals over the next 10 years to achieve a target of one for every 300 people.

The UAE was one of the first countries to introduce Primary Health Centres (PHC) in 1984, after signing the Alma Ata declaration. The number of PHCs have steadily increased over the years, and currently, the focus is on setting up more PHCs in rural areas to make up for the fewer health centres in the remote interiors. Similarly, mother care centres have been established far and wide for providing antenatal care, vaccination, and nutritional education, for newborns and mothers. In a major move to widen immunisation and prevention against epidemic diseases, nine preventive medicine centres have been established throughout the country. Hundreds of school clinics have been set up under the school health programme. According to a latest announcement, all national and expatriate students can now receive free treatment in the UAE Government hospital and clinics regardless of whether they have health cards or insurance.

Equipped with state-of-the-art equipment and run by highly qualified medical professionals, the public hospitals provide high-quality medical care to both nationals and expatriates. Apart from several general hospitals, there are hospitals providing specialised healthcare; for instance, Al Wasl Hospital in Dubai mainly specialises in obstetrics, gynaecology, and paediatrics, and its subdivision Genetic and Thalassemia Centre offers treatment and genetic counselling to patients with various inherited disorders of haemoglobin, including thalassemia. Al Wasl Hospital premises also include the Centre for Arab Genomic Studies (CAGS), which was recently launched for establishing a database of genetic diseases prevalent in the Arab countries...

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