Middle East Healthcare News » Healthcare News

Kuwait to prohibit smoking in public

admin — Sun, 11 Jul 2010 13:54:36 +0000

A number of citizens in Kuwait mentioned that they are supporting a 15-years old government legalization that prohibits smoking in public areas in the country. The recent public support is following news reported in local media discussing the starting of new arrangements, prepared by the Ministry of Health (MoH), in Kuwait to enforce that law.

The law was decided in 1995, while the new arrangements are going to include official collaboration between members of the ministries of health and interior. The collaboration means that officials from interior ministry will start fining individuals up to KD 50 for smoking in public places.

The non-smoking population in Kuwait welcomed the new arrangements, Abdulmajid Mashaan, a 29 year old non-smoker, said “It is indeed annoying to sit in a place filled with smoke,” he added “A few days ago I had to be in a coffee shop, where people were smoking. I had to go there to watch a football game, and by the time the game finished I was really exhausted, almost suffocated.” Moreover, Khaled Al-Enezi, who quitted smoking lately, said “Now I really understand how bad it is to be a smoker,” he continued “When I see someone who is smoking, I want to approach him, and tell him that he is sick, and that he should get help for his sickness.”

Even smokers showed positive attitude about the new arrangements, Ragheb Humoud, a 30-year-old smoker, said that he understands why such law should be activated, he said “I completely understand how smoking can be annoying for non-smokers, especially in enclosed areas, and I try not to smoke in public places when I can,” he continued “Yesterday for example I went to the airport, and I had to be there for about half an hour, but I didn’t smoke, I abstained from smoking until I got out.”

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Medsol’s Al Abbar Lab Receives JCIA accreditation

admin — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 14:34:29 +0000

Medsol, a branch of Gulf Healthcare InternationalGulf Healthcare International, mentioned that its Al Abbar Laboratory has been granted the JCIA accreditation. Al Abbar is one of few labs in the world to receive accreditation from JCIA.

During the audit process, JCIA report did not mention a single ”non conformance to the laid criteria for lab standards”. Al Abbar has also been granted ISO 15189 accreditation and is considered the latest lab among Medsol facilities to achieve international accreditation.

CEO of Gulf Healthcare InternationalGulf Healthcare International, Mark Adams, said ”Al Abbar’s accreditation is the culmination of a series of efforts to ensure quality results are delivered to clients by each lab in the Medsol network. We plan to have all the Medsol labs accredited in the near future.” He added ”Our vision is to have labs that conform to the best quality standards and deliver value to our clients and partners. Medsol is at the forefront of pathological testing in the MENA and the group’s intention has always been to implement the best international practices into the region’s diagnostic sector. We are pleased to say this is another step forward in that direction.”

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Less Than 25% Have Healthcare Insurance In Al-Safa, Jeddah

admin — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 13:02:46 +0000

According to a recent survey, less than 25% of residents in Jeddah’s northern city district have healthcare insurance coverage. The survey was prepared by Health Affairs Department in Jeddah. The study was released last Friday by Jeddah Health Affairs and it noted that only 23% of residents in Al-Safa district are having healthcare insurance.

Moreover, the survey showed that 3% of the residents in Al-Safa were disabled, while only 28% of the women in the district breast-feed their children. Based on data coming from the website of Jeddah municipality, 56,000 people are currently living in Al-Safa. However, the Secretary of the Society of Residential Districts, Hassan Al-Zahrani, says that the number is much more and it may exceed 600,000.
The assistant to the director of Health Affairs, Dr. Nuha Dashash, said that the survey was carried out though 15 weeks. She added that the survey included distributing more than 10,000 questionnaire forms and materials on health awareness. She also mentioned that a number of 3000 cases were reviewed and 89 personnel were having training before beginning of the survey.

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Social Healthcare Service Is much Needed In Saudi Arabia

admin — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 11:31:05 +0000

According to recent data, nearly 25% of beds in all public hospitals in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia are occupied with patients suffering from chronic conditions, such as incurable diseases, old age or disabled patients. These data were highlighted in a recent medical conference, which was held for two days.

Dr. Nawwaf Al-Harithy, director of the Health Affairs Department in Hail, said “Such patients need healthcare more than medication. There is a great shortage in organizations that provide healthcare services to people who are long-term ill,” Dr. Al-Harithy added that although there is a marked increase in the organizations providing healthcare services, such as the National Guard and the House-Care Program of Princess Adilah bint Abdullah, there is an ongoing need for more services from such organizations. Social healthcare services were discussed in the recent medical conference, which took place at King Abdul Aziz Hospital in Jeddah.

During the conference, a number of specialists discussed several solutions to solve this issue. Among them was Dr. Sami bin Muhammad Badawood, Director of the Health Affairs Department in Jeddah, who said that there is a need for more support to social healthcare services in order to help more patients. He added that the relatives of such chronic patients are to take these patients out of the hospitals to allow other patients to have their much needed healthcare service. Abdul Rahman bin Saad, director of information and health awareness at the Department of Health Affairs, said that the conference presented methods of teaching families how to deal with their chronic patients.

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The First Public-Private Partnership Takes Place In Oman

admin — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 11:28:43 +0000

Oman has recently seen first ever Public-Private Partnership (PPP) in the healthcare sector in the country. The Omani Ministry of Education (MOE) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with KIMS Oman Hospital, one of the largest private healthcare centers in the country. The recent agreement was announced by representatives from the Ministry of Education, Yousuf al Molahi, Director of Staff Care, and Hashim al Moosawi, Head, Employee Benefits, in addition to other representatives from KIMS Hospital, such as V M A Hakkim, Executive Director at the hospital.

According to the signed agreement, more than 64,000 employees in the Ministry of Education in Oman, including teachers and students, will be able to have access to high level, specialized healthcare services for reasonable fees in Oman, in addition to other countries such as India and the rest of GCC countries where KIMS Hospitals are located.

Moreover, the above mentioned employees and their families are to have healthcare services based on a new concept, KIMS Health Hour, which means conducting educative healthcare sessions to all the employees and students through the year in Muscat and other cities in Oman, aiming to confirm the importance of preventing diseases from occurring.

Yousuf Darwish al Molahi, Director, Staff Care, Ministry of Education, said “We are looking forward to provide our people with the best medical services to meet all their requirements. The Employee Benefits Section of Staff Care Department of MOE is doing their best efforts in this regards“he added “We are sure we have chosen the right partner and will assure that we will carry out our corporate responsibilities at its best to serve our society” One the other hand, V M A Hakkim, Executive Director of KIMS, commented “We are honored to associate with MOE as their healthcare partner by developing this public-private partnership. KIMS, as a quality healthcare provider understands the demands of the society and is ready to meet the new trends in healthcare challenges of this region. This new initiative will be a benchmark for the health care sector in Oman.”

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New Breakthroughs Found For Diabetes, Cardiology and Gene Therapy

admin — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 11:55:54 +0000

The second “Johns Hopkins Internal Medicine Symposium” was hosted by Beirut based Clemenceau Medical Center (CMC) along with Johns Hopkins Medicine International (JHMI) with the participation of international and local experts from JHMI, CMC and the American University of Beirut.

The topics the symposium discussed were the latest updates in Preoperative Assessment, Diabetes Guidelines, Genomic Medicine in Primary Care, and Interactive Clinical Problem Solving. “Based on the remarkable success of the previously held Johns Hopkins Internal Medicine Symposium, we have come to recognize the necessity to revisit more updates and recommendations from the world’s best experts of Johns Hopkins International”, said Dr. Mounes Kalaawi, Chief Executive Officer of CMC hospital.

“glycosylated hemoglobin”, a new breakthrough in diabetic diagnosis, were highlighted and revealed that it could now be used in the diagnosis of diabetes or pre-diabetic stage, in addition to being a marker for follow up. It was also found that Cardiac Catheterization for preoperative clearance is not a necessity while echocardiography is a need for patients with cardiac problems and high risk family history. Finally, the symposium concluded that the study of patients’ genes in medical diagnosis and how the design of gene therapy can be useful in the treatment of specific and non-specific illnesses.

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Dubai Is To Host The World Congress of Cardiology 2012

admin — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 11:54:06 +0000

Dubai, has won the bid to host the World Heart Federation’s World Congress of Cardiology that will take place in 2012 for the first time in the Middle East region. The congress takes place once every two years and where all the global healthcare community and cardiologists from all over the world gather to discuss the latest advances in the prevention and control of cardiovascular disease. His Excellency Al Murooshid extended his thanks to Pekka Puska, President of World Heart Federation and highlighted that Dubai is pleased to host such a prestigious conference.

His Excellency Qadhi Saeed Al Murooshid, Director General of the Dubai Health Authority represented the Emirate of Dubai, UAE, at the World Congress of Cardiology which took place in Beijing, China from the 19th of June, 2010. “We are proud to host this congress which will take place for the first time in the UAE and will be attended by over 20,000 delegates from across the world. Cardiovascular disease is one of the leading cases of death globally and I assure you that Dubai will provide all its support to battle this disease both in terms creating awareness and further establishing specialized protocols and centers to tackle this disease,” said Al Murooshid. “Such an esteemed congress provides a platform where international experts can share state-of-the-art knowledge to combat this condition. As the Director General of the Health Authority for the Emirate of Dubai, I would like to mention that we are working at various levels to tackle this condition and the Dubai Heart Centre in Dubai Hospital is one such initiative that provides state-of-the art treatment for our population and the GCC region as well.”

Al Murooshid said that “Over the past few years healthcare in Dubai has seen a tremendous growth and this has been possible because of the vision of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Rule of Dubai who has given significant importance to the health sector in the Dubai strategic plan 2015,” added. “Dubai is aware of the huge impact that hosting this conference will have and that it will greatly contribute to further creating much-needed awareness about heart diseases.”

The DHA supports and promotes healthcare conferences in Dubai as the DHA firmly believes that conferences lead to a multi-disciplinary exchange of knowledge and information and also help formulate strategic alliances which help improve the healthcare sector. “DHA is aware of the importance of hosting such conferences and over the years Dubai has become a hub for international conferences due to its outlook, world-class infrastructure and strategic location in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region,” said Al Murooshid. “This conference in particular is crucial to creating awareness about a disease. He highlighted that the DHA has previously supported all awareness initiatives of the World Heart Federation such as the ‘go red for women campaign’ which is held every year to educate women about the risk of heart attack and heart disease.

Other delegates from the DHA that were present at the conference were Tony Batour Elzoghbi, Director of Governance and Internal Audit, Dr Obaid Al Jassim, Head of Cardiology Section at Dubai Hospital and Vice-President of Emirates Cardiac Society, Dr Nooshin Mohd Bazargani, Cardiologist at Dubai Hospital and Member of Emirates Cardiac Society, Dr Afzal Hussein Yusuf Ali, Cardiologist at Dubai Hospital and Dr Suresh Nair Krishnan, Cardiologist at Dubai Hospital,” he highlighted.

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Al Amal Hospital Uses Fast And Efficient RapidArc Radiotherapy Technology For Treatments

admin — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 11:45:30 +0000

Al Amal Hospital in Doha, Qatar, one of the leading cancer centers in the Middle East, has now become the first in the region to introduce fast and efficient RapidArc® radiotherapy treatments from Varian Medical Systems. RapidArc technology helps to deliver a highly-precise image-guided intensity-modulated radiotherapy treatment in as little as one or two revolutions of the treatment machine around the patient, much faster than is possible with conventional IMRT.

The hospital has treated nine brain cancer, prostate cancer and head & neck cancer patients with RapidArc since commencing treatments in early May, and it is now planning to roll out the technology for many more indications. “Faster treatments that adapt radiation dose to the tumor are always desirable in radiotherapy and we are very proud to join other prominent oncology centers worldwide in offering this technology,” says Dr. Noora Al Hammadi, director of Al Amal Hospital’s radiation oncology program. “State-of-the-art capabilities such as RapidArc offer our patients a fast and efficient way of receiving more advanced radiotherapy treatments. Since we introduced RapidArc on our two Varian linear accelerators, we have widened the indications that we treat with the technique and we expect this trend to continue as it becomes more and more a part of our center’s routine treatment approach. We are very pleased about the potential of this technology.”

During a ceremony, attended by members of the Qatari Royal Family and government, Al Amal Hospital signed an agreement with Varian for the hospital to become a reference center in the gulf region and the Middle East for RapidArc, image-guided radiotherapy (IGRT) and other advanced forms of radiotherapy. “Al Amal Hospital is a great example on the fast implementation of Varian technology, made possible by a dedicated and highly motivated team,” says Rolf Staehelin, head of Oncology Systems marketing for Varian in Europe, Middle East, India and Africa. “Within a year, the whole oncology department switched to a Varian hardware and software paperless environment, capable of delivering advanced radiotherapy techniques” Dr. Al Hammadi added, “Varian’s equipment and software supports our belief in seamless care. The ability to implement both RapidArc and stereotactic radio surgery using 3D image guidance allows us to offer greater precision. In addition, the ARIA™ oncology information management system has enabled us go entirely paperless and fully integrate to the hospital’s imaging systems, meaning better workflow and better overall patient care.”

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Fifth Dubai International Obs-Gyne & Fertility Conference & Exhibition (DIOFCE) Points Out Challenges of Women’s Health In The Region

admin — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 12:10:54 +0000

The Fifth Dubai International Obs-Gynae & Fertility Conference & Exhibition (DIOFCE), supported by H.H. Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum, is to discuss critical issues relating to women’s health. It will also focus on obstetrics, gynaecology and fertility in the region, and will be featuring experts from around the globe.

The conference is chaired by Dr. Awatif Juma Al Bahar, Medical Director at Dubai Gynaecology and Fertility Centre (DGFC), of the Dubai Health Authority. It will be held in Dubai on 4 to 6 November, 2010 and it is organized by Synovetics, a leading organizer for continuing healthcare education events. The three day conference will cover topics including urogynaecology, reproductive gyanecology, fertility, high-risk pregnancies, and surgical approach in obs-gynae, gynaecological diseases and oncology. As well as bringing together around 500 women’s health practitioners, nurses, physicians, healthcare managers and other healthcare officials from all over the MENA area to discuss critical issues and key advancements in women’s health in the Gulf and neighboring regions. In addition to focus on technological advancements, case studies and new techniques.

“The conference is rich with substantial scientific material and will be of great benefit to healthcare professionals, providing them an opportunity to gain valuable insight on developments in women’s health that they can apply to their practice. We believe the conference will help bring innovative concepts from around the world to the Middle East. We look forward to the sharing of new ideas and advances in the field of obstetrics, fertility and gynaecology which will undoubtedly strengthen its importance in the region,” said Dr. Awatif Juma Al Bahar.

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Amman Cancer Rises by 6.6 per cent, Report

admin — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 11:04:59 +0000

In the Kingdom, cancer incidence was 5,826 cases in 2007 to 6,214 cases in 2008, now it rose by 6.6 %, according to the National Cancer Registry report. They accounted 4,606 Jordanian cases (of which 2,274 were Jordanian males and 2,332 females) and 1,608 non-Jordanians who were treated in the country. As for children 232 cases were found in the age of 0-14 (5%) of all registered cases

Breast cancer topped cancer incidence with 866 cases (18.8 %), followed by colorectal cancer with 548 cases (11.9 %) registered among males and females. While Lung cancer came third with 356 cases 7.7 %) of the total, followed by non-Hodgkin lymphoma with 333 cases (7.2 %) and leukemia ranked fifth with 246 cases (5.3 per cent). When they ranked females only, breast cancer topped the total incidence among females with 855 cases, followed by colorectal 219, corpus uteri 127, thyroid cancer 109, and non-Hodgkin lymphoma 107. As for males, colorectal cancer ranked first with 329 cases, followed by lung cancer 297, urinary bladder cancer 171, prostate cancer 163, and leukemia 152. The report revealed the count according to the geographical distribution of cancer cases in 2008, Amman topped the Kingdom’s governorates with 2,667 cases, followed by Irbid (579), and Zarqa (535). Tafileh Governorate ranked the lowest i incidence of cancer in 2008, with only 31 cases registered.

Despite all these rankings cancer remained the second leading cause of death in Jordan after cardiovascular diseases, causing 14 % of the total deaths in 2008, which stood at 13,835. “The cost of treating a cancer patient ranges between JD10, 000 and 15,000. However all Jordanian cancer patients receive free-of-charge treatment.” according to Ministry of Health Secretary General Deifallah Lozi. He also announced that “The ministry decided to adopt a unified treatment protocol for three types of cancers – breast, colon and leukaemia – in all hospitals across the country.”

Bassam Hijjawi, director of the ministry’s primary healthcare directorate, said “The report was the 13th launched by the Jordan Cancer Registry since its establishment in 1996,” explained that “Data for the report was collected and abstracted by trained registry staff through regular visits to all hospitals across the country. The latest National Cancer Registry contains figures for 2008 because it takes 20 to 24 months to verify primary cancer.”

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Middle East Healthcare News » Healthcare News

Kuwait to prohibit smoking in public

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The First Public-Private Partnership Takes Place In Oman

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Fifth Dubai International Obs-Gyne & Fertility Conference & Exhibition (DIOFCE) Points Out Challenges of Women’s Health In The Region

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