Mubadala Healthcare's Minhaal on show at Arab Health 2009

Called Minhaal (Arabic for "the source"), the service created by Mubadala Healthcare of United Arab Emirates to raise awareness of health issues among Arabic speakers and provide prevention and treatment information is being demonstrated at the Arab Health Exhibition and Congress, the region's biggest gathering of medical and healthcare professionals taking place in Dubai.

The service on www.minhaal.ae enables patients to research symptoms and examine possible treatments. Content is provided through syndication agreements with international online resources such as WebMD endorsed by an advisory board including representatives from the Health Authority of Abu Dhabi and the Mubadala Healthcare network. Content is translated, reviewed and loaded on the system.

In its initial phase www.minhaal.com enabled searches of only 65 healthcare topics but has now grown to over 200 topics. "Minhaal's ultimate goal is to provide the people of the UAE and Arabic speaking people all over the world with an internet portal that continually provides the most accurate, reliable and up-to-date healthcare related information," said a Mubadala Healthcare spokesman.

"Mubadala Healthcare is one of around 2,300 exhibitors from all over the world taking part in Arab Health and demonstrating their products and services at what is by far the biggest gathering of its kind in the region," said Simon Page, the Life Sciences Director of IIR Middle East, the event organiser.

Arab Health, which closes tomorrow, also features the world's largest multi-track series of accredited health conferences attended by over 5,000 delegates. More than 50,000 medical and healthcare professionals are taking part in Arab Health which showcases the latest medical technologies and clinical research.

Arab Health is backed by the Ministry of Health of the United Arab Emirates, Dubai Health Authority and the Health Authority of Abu Dhabi.