Health ministry removes 2 errant doctors

By PMA RASHEED

The Gulf Today, 5 Oct 2010

The medical licensing committee of the Ministry of Health (MoH) has removed two doctors from their practice on Monday for professional malpractices.

Licenses of the unethical practitioners have been withdrawn, in addition to blacklisting of their names, according to a senior official.

Dr Amin Al Amiri, Executive Director for Medical Practices and Licenses at the MoH, told The Gulf Today that one of the sacked doctors was caught for impersonating in front of patients using the name and stamp of his colleague, who was out of the country on vacation.

“The other was found forging medical reports of the patients. The patients have the right to approach the court and sue the doctors or hospitals in the event of negligence and violations,” he added.

“Several other doctors who breached the MoH regulations have also been temporarily suspended from practice until their appearance before the medical licensing committee to analyse their violations,” said the acting chairman of the committee.

“The higher committee also called on directors of the medical centres to investigate the irregularities and violations committed by the doctors employed at their establishments,” said Dr Amiri.

According to him, stringent action will be initiated against the erring medical professionals in the country.

“The medical licensing committee members meet regularly to monitor the complaints against the breaching practitioners and review the regulations and medical practices pertaining to the private sector,” he noted.

Dr Amiri highlighted that about seven medical centres and hospitals in the private sector have received international accreditations for achieving excellence and providing quality healthcare services to patients across the country.

He hailed the vital role of the private medical sector in the country in providing advanced healthcare services to the patients.

“A total of 1,058 hospitals and medical centres are being operated in the private sector in the UAE. The ministry also supervises about 4,350 doctors, 1,005 pharmacies, 129 medical stores, nine pharmaceutical factories and nine private research offices,” elaborated Dr Amiri.

Municipality requires safety warnings on toy packages

By PMA RASHEED

The Gulf Today, 5 Oct 2010

LOCAL manufacturers and establishments selling toys and similar game products should ensure warning messages have been placed on the products about the age restrictions of using them, said Dubai Municipality (DM).

The restriction messages should be written in both Arabic and English languages, according to a senior DM official.

Redha Salman, director of the Public Health and Safety Department at DM, said that the age group for each toy should be mentioned prominently on such products, whether they are manufactured locally or imported from foreign countries.

He called on parents, educators, teachers and vendors to ensure that the toys are selected after considering whether they are appropriate for their child's age. "When it comes to purchasing toys for babies, parents should ascertain the reliability and safety of the game products in order to protect children from fatal hazards or long-lasting damage," warned Salman.

"Small parts of some toys expose children below three years to the risks of suffocation, if the toy contained parts that can be removed easily by hand," he said.

"Many toys can be split into small pieces and be easily swallowed by babies, who may also munch or try to eat parts like eyes, which can be separated from many dolls available in the local market," he said.

"Even though toys have a significant role in the growth of children's mental and physical abilities, it is known that the children of lower age have the habit of putting things in their mouths," he remarked.

"Children under the age of 10 get some toys from groceries with manufactured cheap and hazardous plastic parts that are often misused, and may lead to lasting injuries to the kids," pointed out Salman.

He elaborated, "Usage of high concentrations of heavy metals and chemicals in the manufacture of some of the toys affects the health and safety of children negatively, such as a negative impact on the heart, bones, digestive system and nervous system."

"These symptoms will be visible through the children's abnormal behavior and learning difficulties," he added.

"Knitted and stuffed toys look beautiful and attractive to children externally, but [can pose] health risks for them if there is a hole in the stitching or in case the sewing is weak."

"It allows the emergence of the internal filling material and it becomes easy to access them, which may cause a risk of suffocation as a result of inhalation or swallowing of the material," said Salman.

According to him, the parents and children's supervisors are responsible to choose appropriate toys for their kids to keep them safe from the risks involved with hazardous or terrible toys.

Introducing a number of hazardous materials that may enter in the manufacture of toys, the DM on Sunday has launched a health safety drive titled "My Safety in My Toy."

The campaign, which started at Children's City on Sunday, will run until Oct 12, educating the public on the precautions to be taken while purchasing toys for their children.

According to Salman, the civic body monitors all sorts of toys that enter the market of the emirate.

"The DM implements strict control over the toys that are showcased in the local markets. All the imported items related to children in the context of consumer protection undergo intense inspection procedures by the civic officials, in addition to laboratory tests carried out at the toys lab of the Dubai central laboratory," he noted.

(Pic by Nisham A. Manaf)

Pirates kill Sri Lankan captain on UAE waters

By PMA RASHEED

The Gulf Today, 4 Oct 2010

THE body of the deceased Sri Lankan Captain, who was reportedly killed in international waters on board his vessel while moving towards Sharjah shore, is expected to be released within a couple of days, said officials at Sri Lankan mission in Dubai.

Wasantha Senanayake, Consul General of Sri Lanka in Dubai, told The Gulf Today that the reason for the death of the victim, who was the captain of the merchant vessel Ocean Trite, was not yet confirmed.

According to Sri Lankan media, Captain Sunil Dharmaratne was killed in waters off the UAE, when pirates boarded the Ocean Trite and opened fire.

“The body has been brought to a hospital in Sharjah. The 54-year-old Dharmaratne, a resident of Boralasgamuwa in Sri Lanka, had been working as the captain of the vessel for four years,” reported Colombo Today.

It said, “The Ocean Trite, a commercial ship registered in the UAE, was sailing along the UAE–Iran maritime border when the incident occurred.”

Senanayake added, “The Sharjah Police is investigating the case, and we are waiting for the full report in order to repatriate his remains to Sri Lanka immediately after the body is released after conducting an autopsy on it.”

“The incident happened on Sept.26, when the deceased captain was sailing to the UAE shore. The ship had a total of ten people, including the captain, seven other Sri Lankan nationals and two Indians,” confirmed Senanayake.

“The captain died due to internal bleeding, the reason for which has to be conformed by the police, who are interrogating the other nine people who remained in the vessel,” he said.

“More details about the death of the captain, like whether he was murdered by pirates or the incident happened in the UAE waters, have to be detected yet,” pointed out the chief of Sri Lankan mission.

Dharmaratne was a retired naval officer and a well experienced captain of merchant vessels.

Meltdown takes toll on mental health

By PMA RASHEED

The Gulf Today, 4 Oct 2010

One-fifth of people show symptoms of mental illnesses -- more commonly depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, say the Emirate's health officials.

THE global financial turbulence, which heavily upset individual lives, has contributed much to the increase in mental health issues of residents in Dubai, according to a senior psychologist.

Dr Layla Abdulwahab Asamarai, Head of Psychology Section at Rashid Hospital in Dubai, said that it was common for normal people to plunge into psychiatric disorders - brought about by a stressful life weighed down by unbearable financial burdens and professional insecurity.

"However, a conclusive research has not yet been carried out in this matter. Such a study would have shocking revelations on the mental health status of the Emirate's residents," she told The Gulf Today, on the sidelines of a press conference held in Dubai on Sunday to announce a six-week mental health awareness campaign.

The campaign has been jointly organised by the Dubai Health Authority (DHA) and the Community Development Authority (CDA) to observe the global mental health day, which falls on Oct.10.

Dr Asamarai elaborated, "The number of mental illness cases has been increasing quite shockingly over the past few years in the Emirate. Numerous factors such as workplace strain, anxieties over job security, problematic relationships, isolated life, unhealthy and irregular lifestyle, have contributed to the increase in mental health issues."

According to her, in-depth awareness mechanisms should be developed to alleviate the situation.

"One among every five residents in the Emirate is faced with mental health risks and psychological challenges in any given year," revealed the health officials, "Among the widespread symptoms of mental illnesses, more common are depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder and schizophrenia."

The World Health Organisation (WHO) had estimated that depression will be the second leading cause of premature death or disability worldwide.

A couple of days ago, the UAE Ministry of Health (MoH) had revealed that mental disorders among mothers, children and adolescents in the region have emerged as a crucial public health issue.

"Among the mothers, an estimated rate of 15 to 36 per cent was suffering from mental disorders in the Gulf countries. Meanwhile, the rate is ten to 36 per cent among the children and adolescents," said Dr Mahmood Fikri, Executive Director for Health Practices at the MoH.

"The rates were shocking, as the mental challenges Middle East people faced were analysed as being stiffer than those faced by people in developed countries," he pointed out.

"The WHO's 57th regional conference currently on in Cairo, will discuss the alarming issue and would bring out strategies to be implemented to eliminate the stress of mental diseases among the region's people," added Dr Fikri.

Meanwhile, Dr Asamarai said that most of the mental problems among the residents were caused by employment-related stress. The role of genetic component, to cause the mental disorders were comparatively less, albeit it might multiple the symptoms coupled with the issues of work stress and globalisation.

"The stigma attached to mental health problems makes the patients reluctant to seek early advice from experts or timely treatment at a specialty centre. They think they would be alienated from the society, if their mental problems come to fore. Eventually, they plunge into deeper mental disorders," she added.

"Comprehensive awareness programmes can only save those who show symptoms of falling mentally sick. People have to be educated on methods of preventing depression through an engagement in various activities, and also on the importance of building up healthy relationships," noted Dr Asamarai.

(Image used for illustrative purpose)

National training mechanism to fight diabetes

BY PMA RASHEED

The Gulf Today, 1 Oct 2010

THE health authorities in the UAE are planning to launch a unified scientific training mechanism for doctors to alleviate the alarming prevalence of diabetes among the residents in the country.

Adopting the new realistic diabetes training method, in line with global practices and the latest developments in diabetes treatment, will change the healthcare scenario of the country, said a senior official at the Ministry of Health (MoH).

Dr Mahmood Fikri, executive director for health policies at the MoH, said, "The new strategies will emphasise on providing comprehensive training to the doctors and technical employees on performing effective practice for the prevention of diabetes on a long-term basis."

"The programme will develop the technical skills of doctors who are specialised in diabetes and endocrinology," he added.

Dr Hanif Hassan Ali Al Qassim, the UAE Minister for Health, said that all medical practitioners working in the hospitals under the ministry, and professionals of other healthcare centres, will be trained by a specialist team from the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists (AACE).

"The in-house education and training strategies will raise the country's capability in treating cases of the non-communicable disease. Administrative and technical skills of the MoH staff diabetes specialists will be developed in diabetes prevention and endocrinology," he added.

Dr Fikri said that the AACE will select 200 doctors randomly to be distributed equally; the first group will have previous training in the treatment of diabetes while the second group did not attend any training.

"Technical performance skills and knowledge of the two groups on advanced diabetes prevention will be identified through the usage of unified scientific tools. The evaluation of the individual capabilities will be carried out in two phases," he indicated.

According to Dr Fikri, the phase one of the programme will begin in November for two days, while the phase two will commence in January 2011.

"After completion of the phase one and reviewing its results, the unified scientific training process will be established in the field of diabetes treatment in order to fill in the training needs and gaps of the evaluation process," he pointed out.

"In the phase two, the doctors will be trained on the new process to test their knowledge and practical capabilities in treating diabetes," elaborated the senior MoH official.

"The MoH trained 530 doctors from the primary health sector last year in cooperation with the AACE and Harvard College of Medicine as part of the implementation of the national programme for fighting diabetes," he noted.

"The MoH also sent 14 doctors, who were previously trained in diabetes treatment, to Cardiff University to obtain a diploma in diabetes prevention," added Dr Fikri.

Ministry closely monitors medicines in narcotics category

BY PMA RASHEED

The Gulf Today, 30 Sept 2010

A special committee has been set up under the health ministry to screen the trading of narcotic drugs and prevent abuse of such medicines in the UAE.

All sorts of medical products in the narcotic substances category will be monitored by the committee, before being in circulation in the pharmaceutical market, indicated a Ministry of Health (MoH) official.

The UAE Minister of Health Dr Hanif Hassan Ali Al Qassim issued a ministerial decision to form the special narcotics committee, which will be chaired by Dr Amin Al Amiri, Executive Director for Medical Practices and Licensing at the MoH. He said, "About 24 medicines have been listed as narcotic drugs, which cause mental disorders and adverse effects in the consumers."

"Such medicinal products should be given to the customers only with an approved medical prescription. The MoH aims to further prevent malpractices in the use of medicines, by setting up the stringent drugs monitoring mechanism," he added.

"The committee will coordinate with doctors and medical practitioners as well as other healthcare authorities to regulate import of the narcotic drugs, and implementing surveillance measures. All the stocks at medical and pharmaceutical establishments will be inspected by the committee," pointed out Dr Amiri.

"Sub committees will also be formed to study certain articles of the penal code concerning narcotic drugs abuse, according to the new international regulations and rapid changes concerning narcotic drugs and their abuse," he said.

According to him, the MoH follows international guidelines in implementing regulations to control the consumption and trading of medicines in the narcotic and psychotropic drugs categories.

"The United Nations International Drugs Control Agency had issued warnings on the negative impacts due to the misuse of narcotic medicines, which may cause mental, physical and behavioral changes in the users," he noted.

"The MoH has implemented the decisions of the international authority for drugs control (INCB), in coordination with the ministries and authorised departments including the Ministry of Interior and Federal Customs Authority."

"The new committee will define the best practices in implementation of the cabinet's decision No.39/2009, concerning the amendments of the federal law No.14/1995. The federal law No.4/1983 on pharmaceutical sector had enforced that import of narcotic medicinal products into the UAE only to be permitted with prior approval from the MoH," he elaborated.

Dr Amiri stated that the MoH is the only authority to supervise the import and consumption of such substances in the country.

"The MoH's aim is to raise awareness on pharmaceutical products that cause negative side effects, and educate them so as to avoid addiction threats arising out of drug abuse."

"The MoH also will liaise with cargo establishments to implement methods to control import procedures through online pharmacies, so to prevent such activities that boost trafficking of counterfeit drugs in the country," he said.

Dubai's waste triples in 9 years

By PMA RASHEED 

The Gulf Today, 27 Sept 2010

THERE Emirate of Dubai has generated a massive amount of 3,746,509 tonnes of waste in the year 2009, according to statistics revealed by the civic authorities on Sunday. In 2000, this figure stood at just 1,046,404 tonnes.

The phenomenal growth that Dubai is currently experiencing, has on the flip side, resulted in the heavy increase in the amount of waste being produced in the city, said Hussain Nasser Lootah, Director General of Dubai Municipality (DM).

“The amassing of solid municipal waste in the city increases at an average of almost 20 per cent annually,” he said.

Lootah also raised his worries on these issues, as pressure continues to mount on the city’s waste management mechanism. “The issues of daily waste collection as also its treatment through resource recovery or recycling and its safe disposal, constitute heavy municipal tasks,” he added.

Lootah was speaking on Sunday at a workshop for waste-to-energy project for qualified companies.

“Data gathering for the Al Warsan waste-to-energy plant and geotechnical investigation of the site has been completed,” he said.

“The plant to be located at the 30 hectare plot in Al Warsan will be designed to accommodate 6,500 tonnes of waste per day and the expected power that will be generated from the waste is estimated at 150 MW/h,” Rashed Karkain, Head of Technical Support and Studies Section in the DM’s Waste Management Department.

“The project, featuring the latest, state-of-the-art waste to energy conversion and pollution control technologies, is one of the key components of the integrated approach being set up by the municipality to tackle the waste management problem in the city,” he elaborated.

According to Karkain, the prequalification process of the project was conducted in the last quarter of 2009.

“It was participated by 29 groups of companies from all over the world. After a thorough review of the company’s submissions, only 14 selected to join in the bidding process of the project, in which 11 companies participated,” he added.

“The deadline for the submission of bids and proposal is Dec.19, 2010 and the selection of the winning bidder shall be made after a thorough evaluation of their submitted documents,” said the senior MD official.

“Joint venture with public and private participation could also be thought of,” said Karkain.

“The environment-friendly process of energy recovery through combustion of waste producing electricity is well known worldwide.”

“Many countries having best practices in modern and efficient waste management system have Waste-to-Energy (WTE) plants operating to stringent environmental controls. So, we decided to establish such a plant in Dubai,” he elaborated.