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GCC spends $14bn on new hospitals
Arabian Gulf countries approximately spends $14bn alone on new hospitals and healthcare facilities, according to organisers of Hospital Build, an inaugural exhibition and conference for hospital developers and operators, healthcare providers, hospital management and facilities management personnel. The report added while more than 100 hospitals in the planning stage across the Middle East and Africa.
UAE orders 1m 'flu masks'
Dr Hany Sokar, general manager of Al Baker Trading, the UAE distributor for GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) products, has said that the Ministry of Health has placed an order with GSK for one million respiratory masks amidst reports of high demand after the country's confirmation of the first case of influenza A (H1N1), Khaleej Times has reported. The ministry has also scaled up its order for Relenza (zanamivir phosphate) by an additional one million packets, in addition to the swine flu vaccine that GSK is preparing to manufacture.
Nestle launches osteoporosis campaign
Nestlé Middle East in association with the Pan Arab Osteoporosis Society has launched a region-wide 'Nestlé Strong and Healthy Bones' initiative which addresses the need to propagate bone health knowledge in the region to help prevent osteoporosis. The initiative will see several education programmes and active campaigns rolled out across the region in the coming months.
UAE to open new medical waste treatment plant
Dubai Municipality Director-General Hussain Nasser Lootah said the Dhs24m medical waste treatment plant in Jebel Ali will be operational from next week, and will handle all medical wastes generated in the hospitals of the emirate. The amount of medical waste has seen an increase over the years due to the rise in the number of hospitals and clinics. In 2000, around 3,000 tonnes of waste arrived at the municipal garbage dump everyday for disposal. The rate in 2008 reached 11,000 tonnes per day.
Bahrain searches for passengers who flew with H1N1 victim
Bahrain's health authorities are looking for up to 10 airline passengers who may have been infected by the country's first swine flu victim, Gulf Daily News reported. Around 80 more students from the same private university in Bahrain as the victim are also being tested after they attended a graduation ceremony in the US. The victim had arrived on board a Qatar Airways flight via Doha.
Saudi to spend $20bn on health facilities
Dr Mazen Fakeeh, director-general of Dr. Soliman Fakeeh Hospital (DSFH) has said Saudi Arabia's private sector is forecast to spend $20bn by 2016 on new medical facilities and services, according to the Saudi Gazette. He said that DSFH alone will invest SR500m in the next three years for several projects in the Western Region, including a Fakeeh Medical Center by 2010 and two satellite hospitals, one in the extreme north and the other in the extreme south of the region.
Abu Dhabi to launch paid ambulance service
Mohammad Al Ansari, Head of the Ambulance Unit at the Abu Dhabi Police has said that a paid ambulance service will be launched by the unit to pick up the elderly and transport them inside the emirate of Abu Dhabi and to other emirates. The cost of travel within a city in the emirate of Abu Dhabi would be Dhs150 per hour; Dhs250 per hour to travel from city to city in the emirate and Dhs500 per hour to the other emirates. The service will also be available to public authorities and private firms at Dhs370 per hour for the ambulance car and the driver; Dhs70 for nurse; Dhs135 for doctor.
Bahrain confirms first swine flu case
A Bahraini student, who had recently returned from New York in the US, has tested positive for H1N1 swine flu, a day after he had been cleared by Health Ministry specialists, Bahrain's Health Ministry has confirmed. The Ministry's public relations director Adel Ali Abdulla said the student was retested with new equipment and testing kits which arrived in Bahrain in the last 24 hours. The student is responding positively to the Tamiflu treatment, and is expected to recover fully.
UAE gets first case of H1N1 virus
The UAE Ministry of Health has announced handling of the first case of H1N1 in the country after a positive lab test was confirmed on a male passenger who arrived from Canada. The patient is currently recovering at a government hospital after receiving a course of treatment, and he will remain under observation and treatment for ten days. Passengers who were on the same flight have not developed any H1N1 symptoms, according to Dr Haneef Hassan, the UAE's Minister of Health.
Saudi healthcare salaries under scrutiny
The Saudi Health Ministry and Civil Service Ministries have formed a joint committee to set out wages for newly appointed workers in private hospitals, medical cities and military hospitals in the Saudi Arabia. Spokesman for the Ministry, Dr Khalid Marghlani, said new job descriptions will be used to channel and control salary bonuses and to allocate accommodation and medical insurance allowances. Once the job descriptions are applied, doctors are expected to receive a SR50,000 housing allowance, while allowances for other employees will be awarded according to their qualifications.
UAE ministry debunks SMS blood rumours
The UAE's Ministry of Health (MoH) has dismissed rumours circulated via SMS that there was a shortage of a certain blood type which was needed to treat a hospitalised patient, reported the Gulf News. The Ministry said an investigation by the Department of Blood Transfusion and Research in Sharjah had found that there was no patient in need of blood.
Bahrain Health Oasis launched
The Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland Bahrain has recently launched the $1bn Bahrain Health Oasis project at a foundation stone ceremony in Muharraq, Bahrain. The 60-hectare development will feature keystone projects such as the Bahrain Health Oasis, The King Hamad General Hospital and the Oasis Private Hospital. The project will also house clinical specialist treatment centres, extensive provisions of offices for medical and healthcare enterprises, a five star resort and four star hotels.
Abu Dhabi places ban on Basa fish
The Abu Dhabi Food Control Authority (ADFCA) has temporarily banned the sale of Vietnamese Basa fish in local markets. The ban follows reports that the fish were feeding in irrigation waters contaminated with malachite green, a chemical classified as Class II Health Hazard toxic to human cells that cause liver tumour formation. ADFCA said the ban is pending investigation and analysis and will be overturned if it is found that the fish is fit for human consumption.
Dubai's compulsory health insurance scheme deferred
Qadhi Saeed Al Murooshid, Director-General of the Dubai Health Authority, said Dubai's compulsory health funding scheme, which was due to be rolled out early this year, has been put on hold until next year on the request of stakeholders involved in making it a success. 'Let me reassure you that providing basic healthcare for the people of Dubai and visitors is very much part of our strategy and therefore we shall implement the funding system in phases beginning in 2010,' Al Murooshid was quoted as saying by Khaleej Times.
Bahrain to set up stem cell centre
Bahrain is planning the creation of a stem cell centre to help with the treatment of diabetes. The Health Ministry public relations director Adel Ali Abdulla has said that a team of experts from Hamburg, Germany, would arrive in Manama this week to conduct an initial study on the country's needs and suggest ways to set up a unit to treat patients with diabetes. The German firm will be named once the agreement has been signed. Abdulla said a decision to set up the centre had been taken after successive studies showed rates of diabetes in Bahrain and the rest of the Gulf were increasing.
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