Monday, February 7, 2011
Sunday, February 6, 2011
Saturday, February 5, 2011
Friday, February 4, 2011
"..Gulf Region to see 51.7 Millions Diabetes patients by 2030.."
A survey conducted by the Nielsen Company for Philips Healthcare found that the combination of a growing population and a highly sedentary lifestyle is resulting in an increase in diabetes, as well as other diseases such as obesity, hypertension, cardiovascular disease and certain types of cancer.
The World Health Organisation predicts that the number of diabetes patients in the MENA region will reach 51.7 million by 2030.
The sharp increase in healthcare demand will tax an already strained medical system, said Diederik Zeven, general manager of Philips Healthcare.
“It’s basically a combination of factors, specifically if you look at the Middle East; you have a growing population that is very young. Life expectancy goes up very rapidly due to the availability of technology and if you add to that certain predominant diseases, like diabetes, you can already make projections of the capacity requirements for the healthcare system, 20 or 30 years out, and then you can start planning your investments,” he said.
“You can see that here in the UAE, and also in Saudi Arabia, where governments, with the assistance of the private sector, are readying their social infrastructure, of which healthcare is a part of, to deal with this future requirement.”
Latest data from the International Diabetes Federation’s Diabetes Atlas 2010 puts the prevalence of diabetes in the UAE at 18.7 percent, when readjusted for international comparative purposes, or about 425,000 people.
Saudi Arabia is the next worst country in the region, with 16.8 percent of its population, or 2,065,300, affected by the disease.
At present, the region spends $5.5bn annually on diabetes, or 14 percent of its total healthcare expenditure, on treating the 26.6 million adults with diabetes. This number accounts for 9.3 percent of the world’s total cases, WHO added.
“Public-private partnerships are essential to implement these plans of action and this was expressed by the UAE Ministry of Health which said in 2010 that they cannot carry this burden alone and that dealing with the issue of obesity and diabetes is the responsibility of everyone — government, the private sector, NGOs and even families,” the survey report said.
Peter DeBenedictis, a spokesperson for Philips Healthcare, said that the region has seen a chronic underinvestment in healthcare, despite the low cost of healthcare for the last 20 years.
“There’s been underinvestment over the last two decades, and that’s changing, which is a good thing, we’re seeing tremendous amount of reinvestment happening now in the industry, which is going to have a positive outcome for people,” he said.
Friday, January 28, 2011
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
"..Hyundai E&C wins $534m order from Qatar .."
Hyundai Engineering & Construction Co Ltd said on Thursday that it has won a 616.3 billion won ($534.1m) order to build a hospital in Qatar.
The country's largest builder said in a filing to the Korea Exchange that the construction period was 34 months, according to a newswire Reuters report on Thursday.
Hyundai is one of the many Korean firms that have entered into business deals in the Middle East.
Korea Investment Corp will invest $50m in an infrastructure fund run by Mubadala Development Co, the investment arm of the Abu Dhabi government, South Korea’s sovereign wealth fund said.
Saudi International Petrochemical Co (Sipchem) said on Wednesday its affiliate awarded South Korea's GS Engineering and Construction a contract to build a petrochemicals plant as part Sipchem's third expansion phase.
Qatar's vibrant natural gas sector will propel the country to a 20 percent growth rate next year, the International Monetary Fund said earlier this week.
Despite this runaway expansion, inflation will remain subdued at three percent, the fund said.
"..UAE spends $500m a year on diabetes 'epidemic'.."
Diabetes in the Gulf is at “epidemic proportions” with the UAE government spending $500m a year on treating the disease, the head of drug company Novo Nordisk has said.
The rate of diabetes among the population is on the rise, with an estimated 20 percent of pregnant women in the UAE contracting transitional gestational diabetes, said president and CEO Lars Rebien Sorenson.
“It’s been estimated that half a million people have diabetes and it costs the government $500mn per year,” he told Arabian Business on the sidelines of a healthcare conference.
The disease is at “epidemic proportions,” he said, with medical costs escalating.
“This is going to get worse before it gets better,” he said.
Experts put the rate of diabetes among adult expats in the UAE at 20 percent, compared to 25 percent for adult Emiratis.
“This is a public health challenge,” Dr Mohmood Fikree, undersecretary for the UAE minister of health, said at a panel discussion. “We have engaged all together for a national strategy for prevention of type 2 diabetes and the promotion of diabetes research.”
Some 530 doctors have been trained in diabetes management in the last two years, he said.
Diabetes incidence across the Gulf is among the highest worldwide, a figure experts believe is attributable in part to diet, sedentary lifestyles and a genetic predisposition to the disease.
As the region has become more westernized, diet has worsened and exercise has waned, said Sorenson.
“Economic growth is disfavorable to health. We see a change in lifestyle where people move from the countryside to the city, where they’re just walking from room to room. For people to eat differently and exercise is counterintuitive – we prefer to eat sweet stuff and do nothing,” he said.
Sorenson said it would take 30 to 50 years before the number of UAE residents being diagnosed with diabetes plateaus.
"..Kuwait MoH reveals plans for new Hospitals, Health Facilities.."
The ministry's expansion is being implemented as part of the overall development plan designed in compliance with His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah's wish to see Kuwait become a regional centre of excellence, explained the senior ministry official. The plan is being overseen by a top-level cabinet committee, Al-Asfour continued, adding the committee has taken into account recommendations from senior State Audit Bureau officials and is currently working on completing a report in response,which should be issued within the next few days. The report will also deal with questions over the selection of contractors to carry out these major projects and the MoH's future plans to overcome such obstacles, said the senior official.
In the address delivered on behalf of health minister Dr. Helal Al-Sayer, Al-Asfour also revealed that some contractual provisos have been amended following moves by some contractors to attempt to increase the amounts charged, explaining that this had caused delays on the work being carried out. On the work currently underway on the ministry projects, the MoH official said that the specialist committee assigned to oversee these projects is working to recruit new contractors, specifically for some projects involving the renovation of a number of facilities and others for the construction of new medical centers in the Hawally area.
Al-Asfour also underlined the importance of the private sector's role in completing the development plan projects related to the healthcare sector. He explained that the MoH plans to implement the various programs included in its plan for the next four years on a gradual basis given the long-term nature of the plan.
Al-Asfour revealed that the ministry is continuing with its plan to recruit more specialist medical teams from overseas, with three such teams already in place at the country's cancer center and main children's hospital. The MoH official also gave some details of the plans for the construction of new hospitals, adding that the ministry also plans to establish a number of specialist medical centers.
Another speaker at the inaugural event and chairman of the conference organizing committee, Nasser Al-Enezi, said that the conference is taking place alongside the ministry's ambitious expansion program, which will increase local state hospitals' capacity and improve Kuwait's medical services overall. Al-Enezi said that the conference's objective is to encourage greater private sector participation in future government projects in the healthcare sector.
Meanwhile, Nizar Mohammed, the regional manager of British construction consultancy specialists, Cyril Sweett Ltd. International, said that the conference provides a great opportunity for specialist private sector hospital construction firms to find out more about participating in the ministry's expansion program. Mohammad said that Cyril Sweett Ltd. would utilize all its expertise in executing its Kuwait-based projects in accordance with the government's five-year development plan.
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
Saturday, January 1, 2011
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