World Health Day focuses on challenges of drug resistance

By PMA RASHEED 

7 April 2011, The Gulf Today 

As drug resistance has become more severe, many infections are no longer easily cured and the condition leads to prolonged and expensive treatment and even greater risk of death, warned World Health Organisation (WHO) on the occasion of the World Health Day on Thursday.
The World Health Day is observed to coincide with the date of the WHO’s establishment.
The WHO on Wednesday has issued a policy package to get everyone, especially governments and their drug regulatory systems, on the right track, with the right measures, quickly.
The health authorities in the UAE have also raised concerns over the issue of resistance of microbes to anti- drugs and the misuse of drugs.
The UAE Ministry of Health (MoH) will observe the day in solidarity with the international communities and organisations.
The WHO, under the theme “Combat Drug Resistance,” called for urgent and concerted action by governments, health professionals, industry and civil society and patients to slow down the spread of drug resistance.
A spokesperson of the MoH said the activities in the UAE focuses on the ways of preserving the valuable wealth of drugs in order to benefit the future generations, with the theme “No action today, no cure tomorrow.”
“The activities in the UAE will highlight WHO’s role in creating awareness in the community in rationalising the use of drugs and anti viruses,” he added.
Member of the Supreme Council and Ruler of Ajman His Highness Sheikh Humaid Bin Rashid Al Nuaimi will open the World Health Day celebrations in Ajman. The minister of health Dr Hanif Hassan Ali Al Qassim will deliver a keynote speech on the issue of drugs and disease resistance.
Salah Amiri, Assistant Director General of the Environment and Public Health Services at the DM, said, “Antimicrobial Resistance” is the theme of world health day activities at Dubai Municipality’s (DM) public health services department.
“The civic body’s health awareness activities focused on the need for the correct use of medicines, and the need to work together for the conservation of these medicines for the future generation,” he added.
Zohoor Hussein Sabbagh, Director of Public Health Services Department at the DM, said “Antimicrobial resistance on the global level threatens continued survival of many of the drugs currently used to treat patients, as well as important achievements in the fight against major infectious diseases.”
“We need to work with all our energies on promoting health awareness in all health, environmental occasions for entire categories of public employees, students, associations, clubs, libraries, centres and others around Dubai,” he added.
According to WHO Director-General Dr Margaret Chan, the world is on the brink of losing these miracle cures. In the absence of urgent corrective and protective actions, the world is heading towards a post-antibiotic era, in which many common infections will no longer have a cure and, once again, kill unabated.

“At a time of multiple calamities in the world, we cannot allow the loss of essential medicines and essential cures for many millions of people,” she added.

“The recommended policy steps included developing and implementing a comprehensive, financed national plan, strengthening surveillance and laboratory capacity, ensuring uninterrupted access to essential medicines of assured quality, regulating and promoting rational use of medicines, enhancing infection prevention and control and fostering innovation and research and development for new tools,” Chan elaborated.

Dubai introduces Digital City Project

By PMA RASHEED 

6 April 2011, The Gulf Today 

Dubai Municipality (DM) has introduced its Digital City Project (DCP), which it claims will help the Emirate’s residents to avail the civic body’s services easier, faster and in a more transparent manner, through this quick response (QR) code system.
The platform to provide services to the public through electronic modes is with an aim to save their time, money and effort as communications are made easier and information is exchanged more rapidly. 

The DCP will enable the public with electronic tools to request a range of DM services including building plan permit, adding land transaction with sale, renewal of survey maps of allotted plots, building demarcation and permit renewal, permit for décor work and temporary use of plot.

A DM spokesperson elaborated that request for new registration of local consultant or contractor, changing contractor or consultant after issuing building permit, and request for permanent connection with sewage network can also be made through the digital city project.

Hussein Nasser Lootah, director-general of Dubai Municipality (DM) said that the new service will help user to easily access municipality services to know the plot number, data on the owner, plan use of land, building permit details, building and planning violations issued against the plot and health and safety violations against food and health establishments.
"Also, inspection visit programmes planned for a building, checking the periodicity of field visits actually carried out on building, in addition to the follow-up of visits programme implemented by the supervision engineers of the sites under construction can be accomplished," he added.
“The user can also check the results of the last field visit on the building, staff register of food preparation and public health establishments and their commitment to occupational health standards, follow-up the preventive maintenance visits carried out on irrigation pump network in the Emirate,” he added.

“The system also enables the owner to know the violations and the remarks issued on his land, view the new advertisements and directives of Dubai Municipality, as well as review and get a copy of the procedures for obtaining Municipality services and the required documents. User can even participate in the evaluation of satisfaction level with services provided at the different sites where municipality services are delivered,” Lootah said.
The QR service applications are aimed at improving services and applying the best electronic technologies to ensure effectiveness of its operations and procedures. It will link all the DM services with a single system, providing a number and QR code for each building in the Emirate.

“Users of iPhone and Blackberry can take advantage of QR technology by downloading applications and installing a Mobile-tag to their hand sets. The users can take a photo of the QR code of any required service and a copy of the procedures for obtaining the service will be downloaded on the phone directly,” Lootah added.

“The QR Code is an encrypted column that can be read using mobile phones. The code stores phone numbers, URLs, e-mail addresses and any other alphanumeric data, with a capacity of storing up to 4,296 characters or digits,” he pointed out.

“By using a mobile device with a built-in camera and a tag reader, the user can access any site address of land without using the keyboard. The QR Code can be used in several ways for numerous uses. Instead of typing phone numbers you need only to pass the mobile on the QR Code to save it in your device, in addition to many other usages which certainly will benefit the user,” elaborated the official.

Unified patient registry system for UAE hospitals

The electronic linking system Wareed will integrate medical records across the country

BY PMA RASHEED

2 April 2011, The Gulf Today

The second phase of inter-and-intra hospital connectivity and information sharing system "Wareed," was implemented last week by the Ministry of Health (MoH) within public sector hospitals.

The new hospital information mechanism will automate and integrate healthcare processes and medical records across all 15 public sector hospitals, 68 affiliate clinics and 18 other medical facilities in Dubai and the Northern Emirates.

The "one patient, one registry" "Wareed" will also connect different departments within each health facility, resulting in an efficient and accessible method of monitoring patient health through a shared database and ensuring effective medical practices with the support of advanced technologies.

Once fully implemented, "Wareed" will be a single platform to source and share patient database, treatment history, information of disease and progress reports, as the system simultaneously networks hospitals and departments within them, health officials indicated.

Dr Hanif Hassan Ali Al Qassim, UAE Minister of Health said the system would enormously impact patient care in the country, eliminating existing hurdles in their path to gain access to health facilities. This is because the system enables their visits after fixing appointments over telephone or text messages.

"The ministry will set up call centres for the management of consultation appointments through the system, which in turn would ease patient traffic, once 'Wareed' is operational," he added while addressing the media.

Dr Hassan assured the new mechanism would help guarantee higher level of safety to patients and eliminate medical errors, malpractices or medical negligence. The system would resolve complaints, 70 per cent of them received from the patients, about lack of transparency.

Dr Salem Al Darmaki, acting  undersecretary at the MoH, said, "'Wareed' is already operational at Sheikh Khelifa Hospital and Mushairaf Health Centre in Ajman, since the project was implemented at the centres during its primary phase in 2009.

"During the second phase, the mechanism was fully applied at Kuwait Hospital in Sharjah recently, electronically linking the emergency, registration and appointment sections of the facility," he added.

"The MoH also has completed implementing the project at Al Qassimi Hospital in Sharjah, and is currently training employees on the system. Other health centres in the Emirate also are preparing to install the electronic system during this second phase," elaborated Dr Al Darmaki.

According to him, the final phase of "Wareed" would be completed by the end of this year.

"Sheikh Khelifa Hospital in Ajman achieved 100 per cent application of the project covering all services. So far, about 150,000 medical files have been archived."

"The system, hosted centrally at a new data centre facility in Abu Dhabi, will connect all hospitals through an advanced network infrastructure," Dr Al Darmaki concluded.

Inspectors rescue 11 Hawksbill turtles on Dubai shores

By PMA RASHEED

1 April 2011, The Gulf Today

A pack of juvenile Hawksbill turtles trapped in heavy sea waste on the shores of Dubai was rescued recently by the marine inspectors of Dubai Municipality (DM).

When the inspectors found the 11 young aquatic species, sized three to five inches and weighing 50 to 150 grams, they were suffering from malnutrition as they had been covered by different types of sea waste materials with their movement hindered.

Mohammed AbdulRahman Hassan, head of the marine environment and wildlife section at the DM, said the highly migratory species of turtles will be released back into their habitat, after carrying out necessary scientific tests on them and providing with required rehabilitation at a specialised centre in the emirate.

“The Hawksbill sea turtles travel through the oceans of the world frequently and this migratory behaviour has made it harder for policymakers to make laws to stop hunting them,” he added.

“It is quite hard to enforce the law to save the hawksbill turtles. As they migrate often, they have become shared resources among nations. If one country makes law to save the hawksbill sea turtles another country hunts them. This situation has given poachers the chance to hunt and trade them, resulting in their rapid extinction”, pointed out Hassan.

He urged fishermen and beachgoers to strictly adhere to the civic body’s environment protection regulations, so as to preserve this threatened marine species. We should be aware of our environment and its elements.

“Nesting places of the turtles on beaches should not be exposed or destructed. We want the people to report such incidents in order to send them back to their natural habitat,” he said.

“Many animal organisations are trying to take initiatives to save these beautiful creatures, as their migratory behaviour has made them more vulnerable. But all their moves are not being successful due to many reasons, due to the lack of human awareness,” he pointed out.

“The hawksbill sea turtles are being protected by different international laws and treaties. They have been enlisted in Appendix I of the CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna) which has made any kind of trade of this species illegal,” Hasssan elaborated.

“The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has classified the hawksbill turtles as critically endangered species. The Convention of Migratory Species (CMS) has also enlisted them in Appendices I and II to protect them,” he added.

According to him, all these regulations and treaties would not be able to save the hawksbill sea turtles until and unless these are enforced properly. “It’s not always possible due to many deficiencies. However, we have many other things to do to save this species. Awareness should be raised to keep the ecological balance.”

(Pic: Supplied)

67 drugs to go cheaper from July

By PMA RASHEED

30 March 2011, The Gulf Today

Prices of as many as 67 medicines have been decreased by five per cent to 40 per cent by three major drug manufactures in the UAE, announced the Ministry of Health (MoH).
The price reduction comes into effect following a study undertaken by a MoH-formed special committee, whose findings had revealed that the prices of medicines, which prevailed in the UAE, were the highest in the region.
Dr Hanif Hassan Ali Al Qassim, the Minister of Health has signed a ministerial decision to approve the new drugs price list, which will come into effect from the beginning of July at all private pharmacies in the UAE.

The announcement was made during the inauguration of Pfizer’s new regional headquarters in Dubai Media City on Tuesday.

Dr Amin Al Amiri, assistant undersecretary for Medical Practices and Licences at the MoH, said, “The pharmaceutical manufacturers Pfizer International, Merck Sharp and Dhome have already reduced their prices of widely-used medicines for a range of diseases including blood pressure, cholesterol, prostate hypertrophy, epilepsy, depression and schizophrenia.”

“Another 20 international pharmaceutical companies are expected to follow suit soon and reduce their prices,” said Dr Amiri, adding, “Other drugs in the revised price list included antibiotics, steroids, antifungal and analgesics.”

According to him, the three drug manufactures responded to the initiatives of the health ministry to elicit the co-operation of the public and private sectors in reducing medicine prices.
Dr Salem Al Darmaki, acting undersecretary at the MoH, noted the health ministry will develop more social partnerships aimed at raising the standards of medical treatment services at reasonable costs that match the residents’ purchasing capacity and living standards, but without financially affecting the service providers.
(Pic used for illustrative purpose only)

People power the ‘hour’

Thousands join Earth Hour 2011 activities in UAE 

By PMA RASHEED 

27 March 2011, The Gulf Today 

Despite the disruptive climatic conditions that restrained the normal pace of life in the UAE on Saturday, thousands of residents congregated at hundreds of outdoor venues across the seven emirates for the world’s largest civil action on climate change- Earth Hour 2011.

Sandstorms curtained the UAE’s iconic landmarks’ visibility during the day, while the darkness draped the popular attractions at night between 8.30pm and 9.30pm, joining the global action towards a sustainable future.

The UAE residents from every walk of life, in communities large and small, symbolically dimmed lights in their residential premises on Saturday evening, in solidarity with hundreds of millions of people around the world.

Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi — the resting place of the UAE’s founding father, and the tallest manmade structure in the world Burj Khalifa temporarily went dark during the hour, in addition to hundreds of other landmarks and residential premises across the UAE.

Showing solidarity with activists across the globe on a mission to raise awareness on keeping the earth sustainable, scores of people in the UAE gathered in parks, streets, town squares and homes and witnessed the lights going out on iconic landmarks and city skylines. They captured the moments of the Earth Hour on videos or still cameras, and pledged to conserve energy for the future.

Patron of the Earth Hour in the UAE, the Emirates Wildlife Society (EWS-WWF) said the participation from the UAE government and private sectors and social organisations exceeded that of the last year. “The most significant message this Earth Hour observation spreads is the importance of using natural light, instead of artificial light by letting the sunshine in where there are windows,” said Ida Tillich, acting director general of EWS-WWF.

“It was all about giving people a voice and working together to create a better future. The people stood up to take responsibility to protect the environment, turning off all lights along with hundreds of million people across the world,” she added.

“Residents of the seven emirates expressed their commitment to Earth Hour by demonstrating action for the environment and sharing messages with the rest of the community. The campaign will continue to showcase a long-term commitment to evolve beyond switching off the lights for an hour,” Tillich remarked.

“We received immense support from government institutions, businesses and individuals throughout several emirates. The list of UAE landmarks took part in this global climate event included dozens of organizations across the emirates,” she noted.

According to her, observation of the cause turned out to be an excellent example of how the private sector, the government, educators and communities could work together with to strengthen and advance the awareness of our country on environmental issues.

Hind Ahmed Shaker, Director of Government Communications at the Ministry of Environment and Water, said the observation of the Earth Hour should inspire us to reduce our energy use. “It’s the contemplation of the one thing we all have in common - our planet. “The Earth Hour is about the responsibility that all of us have in protecting our environment,” she added.

Sameera Fernandes, a communications professional in Dubai, said the UAE has one of the highest ecological footprints per capita, so our role in addressing what is unequivocally the greatest threat to the planet today is absolutely vital.

“The Earth Hour encourages individuals, commercial establishments and government institutions to demonstrate their leadership on environmental solutions through actions,” she added.

Saeed Al Tayer, Managing Director and CEO of Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA), hailed said the solidarity of all residents in Dubai to shut down lights and unnecessary electric goods during the earth hour.

He advised the residents to continue the passion and spirit of conservation which they showed during the event by going beyond the Earth Hour and make a pledge, large or small, to preserve natural resources in their daily lives.

“The DEWA was the first institution to support Earth Hour since 2008. The authority has been implementing various programmes to educate its customers and the community on the responsible use of electricity and water, conservation of the environment and the protection of our planet,” noted Al Tayer.

Ahmad Al Matrooshi, Managing Director of Emaar Properties talked about participation of Emaar in the Earth Hour prgramme, “The Earth Hour is one of the key sustainability initiatives that we undertake across our communities to further strengthen awareness on climate change, while at the same time driving the participatory action of our residents. “The participation of our communities will contribute to tangible energy gains in addition to encouraging people to be more judicious about energy use.”

(Pix by Nisham A Manaf)

Dark landmarks to light up green message

By PMA RASHEED 

26 March 2011, The Gulf Today

Iconic landmarks, residents, government departments and various organisations in the UAE will join millions across the world on Saturday in marking the largest action for the planet, Earth Hour 2011, by switching off electric lights for an hour from 8.30pm.

This year, the global lights-out event has reached record participation, with 131 countries and territories registered to take part, on all seven continents.

Activists and public figures in the UAE have urged the public to show their support for the planet in many ways, whether they are individuals, businesses or schools. “You can start by signing up and joining the Earth Hour movement in the UAE, or can create your own Earth Hour event.”

Various public events have been planned to mark the time when iconic landmarks across the emirates, including Burj Khalifa in Dubai and Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi will go dark in solidarity with the world’s largest environmental call for action on climate change.

This year the Earth Hour urges individuals, governments and other organisations to “Go Beyond the Hour” by committing to enduring actions, big or small, that they will sustain for the future of our planet.

The Emirates Wildlife Society (EWS), in tandem with the World Wildlife Federation (WWF), will run the campaign to showcase a long-term commitment to evolve beyond switching off the lights for an hour. 

A spokesperson of the EWS-WWF said the list of landmarks participating in the global switch-off event and number of participants in the UAE is record breaking this year. More than 200 companies have signed up, most of whom pledged to go beyond the hour.

The EWS-WWF called for all UAE residents to take action and get involved with events set to take place across Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, Fujairah and other emirates.

“The public events planned across the emirates included programmes at Abu Dhabi Corniche Beaches, Dubai Festival City celebrations at the Marina, Burj Khalifa Earth Hour switch-off celebration and bazaar at Burj Plaza, porgrammes at Al Qasba in Sharjah and Earth Hour gathering at the Fujairah Fort,” said the EWS-WWF official.

On the occasion of Earth Hour 2011, Dr Rashid Ahmed bin Fahad, the UAE Minister of Environment and Water (MoEW), commented, “The growing participation of the UAE residents and organisations in the movement indicates the higher level of awareness in the community to protect the environment and achieve sustainable development.”

“We should achieve sustainable development for us and the future generations. Simple changes in the pattern of our lives can reduce our carbon footprint, save our precious natural resources, and contribute to making the planet a better place to live,” he added.

Ida Tillisch, acting director general of EWS-WWF, said, that the “Going beyond the hour” programme calls for daily actions that incorporate environmentally sustainable practices into one’s lifestyle, and into the corporate sector.

Sharjah

In Sharjah, all non-essential lights will be switched off at the popular entertainment destination Al Qasba and Etisalat building during the hour. An array of educational fun activities will be hosted at Sharjah Aquarium and Maritime Museum outdoor area between 5 to 9.30pm.

In anticipation of the Earth Hour, the Sharjah’s official environmental establishment Bee’ah is calling upon the residents to recycle household waste on a regular basis which will help conserve energy long after the Earth Hour is forgotten.

Khaled Al Huraimel, Chief Executive Officer of Bee’ah, commented that residents can drop their recyclable household waste items such as paper, plastics, aluminium cans and plastic at the central temporary collection point set up at Al Qasba.

“The Bee’ah will then quantify the energy saved by recycling these items. The effort will contribute to conserving even more energy via recycling, and not just by turning off the lights for one hour,” he added.

Abu Dhabi

The Municipality of Abu Dhabi City hosts the Earth Hour on the 30th Street of the Cornice Road. The programme scheduled to start at 6.45pm with a lantern walk with Abu Dhabi EcoChicks at beach parking area near Hilton Hotel; followed by ‘Drum up support for Earth Hour’ by Dubai Drums Community, light bulbs exchange programme and musical performance.

“The celebrations will be kicked off at 06.45pm by a candle-lit rally starting off ADNOC refueling station (Beach visitor car park) at Abu Dhabi Corniche to Al Saahel Square beside the Formal Park, accompanied by a military and police band parades as well as drum teams as part of a host of community events,” said the municipality.

The civic body will switch off lights at its head quarters in Al Salam Street as well as at the municipal external centres at Al Bateen, Al Shahama, Al Wathba, Al Zaafraneh and Al Musaffah.

Dubai

In Dubai, the Burj Khalifa programme will witness traditional bazaar with cooking stations and handicrafts at Burj Khalifa Plaza at 5pm. The lantern march, hosted by DEWA, will be staged between 8.30pm to 9.30pm. The festival city will host school art exhibition and competition at DFC Atrium, candle light and floating lantern celebration for the planet, entertainment at DFC Marina, and candlelight dinners at DFC dining venues.

Two digital cameras and printer will be presented to the winning Earth Hour photos posted on EWS-WWF Facebook page, while two laptop computers are waiting the winners of the school-aged children participating at the DFC exhibition.

The ship repair entity Drydocks World will observe the Earth Hour, said its chairman Khamis Juma Buamim, “The programme could help us in power savings of up to 10,800KWH at the Dubai yard.”

“Supporting the global consciousness drive for the preservation and responsible consumption of our natural resources, du will switch off electricity in its facilities in Dubai Outsource Zone, Dubai Academic City 8 & 9, Al Salam and Lotus between 8.30pm and 9.30pm,” said Hala Badri, EVP Brand and Communications at du.

Fujairah

Starting from 7pm Kamal Musalam will perform modern Arabic Music at a gathering near Fujairah Fort, which will switch off lights and candle lanterns will float into the air until 9.30pm.

“There’s more to it than switching off lights for one hour once a year. It’s all about giving people a voice and working together to create a better future,” remarked Ida Tillisch.

“More governmental policies should be developed for the conservation of environment and regulations for effective energy saving in the country. Together we can achieve the meaningful emission reduction necessary to fight climate change,” opined the environmental activist.

“The EWS-WWF programme will give lessons to individuals on going beyond the hour with simple daily actions such as setting air-conditioners to 24 instead of 22 degrees, washing cars with a bucket instead of using a hose, and switching lights to high efficiency bulbs,” she added.

(Pix Supplied)