Bahrain has opened registration for the monkeypox vaccine on a voluntary basis.
The kingdom has a "limited stock" of the vaccine, which will be distributed to priority groups, including front-line health workers and those at high risk of exposure, the Ministry of Health said.
Coming shipments will be dedicated to citizens and residents who wish to take the vaccine, free of charge.
Bahrain has been praised by the World Health Organisation for its preparedness against monkeypox.
“All Gulf countries have the technical capacity to do the testing for monkeypox and I’m really happy to see that the GCC health systems have been ready from the first day they heard about this disease,” said Dr Ahmed Al Mandhari, director of the WHO's Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean.
“Bahrain is one of these countries that have moved in a very strong manner based on the wealth of rich experiences they have had with Covid-19 and has been participating actively in all our engagements.”
The virus originates in primates and other wild animals and causes fever, body aches, chills and fatigue in most patients. People with severe cases can develop a rash and lesions on the face, hands and other parts of the body, but the virus is usually not deadly.
The smallpox-related disease was commonly found in parts of central and west Africa, before spreading to different parts of the world.
The WHO last month declared monkeypox a global emergency, to ensure that the world takes the ongoing outbreaks seriously.
The Bahraini ministry said it has put in place measures related to testing, isolation and treatment, based on global WHO recommendations and standards.
The Minister of Health, Dr Jalila bint Sayed Jawad, said those who tested positive for the virus or were in contact with an infected person must isolate for 21 days.
Racecard
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The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
Gender pay parity on track in the UAE
The UAE has a good record on gender pay parity, according to Mercer's Total Remuneration Study.
"In some of the lower levels of jobs women tend to be paid more than men, primarily because men are employed in blue collar jobs and women tend to be employed in white collar jobs which pay better," said Ted Raffoul, career products leader, Mena at Mercer. "I am yet to see a company in the UAE – particularly when you are looking at a blue chip multinationals or some of the bigger local companies – that actively discriminates when it comes to gender on pay."
Mr Raffoul said most gender issues are actually due to the cultural class, as the population is dominated by Asian and Arab cultures where men are generally expected to work and earn whereas women are meant to start a family.
"For that reason, we see a different gender gap. There are less women in senior roles because women tend to focus less on this but that’s not due to any companies having a policy penalising women for any reasons – it’s a cultural thing," he said.
As a result, Mr Raffoul said many companies in the UAE are coming up with benefit package programmes to help working mothers and the career development of women in general.
