While Covid-19 has brought most travel plans to a halt this year, it has encouraged us to be more mindful of our health. The global pandemic has brought into stark relief the idea that good health is the most valuable thing you can have, and many people are now taking more time to invest in their overall wellness.
So, as travel restrictions are lifted, the idea of a trip to a specialist medical spa (or medi-spa) may appeal. Here are some of the best around the world.
Austria
Thanks to Austrian doctor Franz Xaver Mayr, who proved in the 19th century that all manner of illnesses can be greatly improved or wholly cured simply by getting the digestive system functioning properly, the country’s FX Mayr medi-spas are some of the best known in the world.
Because the updated Modern Mayr Method puts all patients on an ultra-plain diet initially for a week – clear soups, sheep-milk yoghurt, spelt rolls, steamed vegetables – weight loss is guaranteed, whichever one you choose. The Original FX Mayr clinic (original-mayr.com), located on the tree-lined shore of Lake Worthersee, is the simplest and least expensive, with treatment packages costing from Dh6,210 a week, excluding accommodation costs.
The glamorous lakeside VivaMayr Maria Worth and VivaMayr Altaussee (vivamayr.com), in the mountains, are more high-tech, with state-of-the-art diagnostic equipment and outstanding doctors. Both appeal for a long stay. Another Mayr outpost, the Park Igls hotel (park-igls.at) is run by medic, Dr Peter Gartner, but the pared-back setting, near Innsbruck, makes it better for short stays: a quick intensive check-up, perhaps.
The recently overhauled Lanserhof Lans (lanserhof.com), where you have a view of the mountains from your bed, still has some of the cosiness that 20 years ago made it a favourite of Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich, even though it is now the founding spa in a high-powered group that includes the world’s first medical gym, in London. It practices the Lans Med Concept, which combines holistic medicine with regeneration and prevention.
Germany
Deep in the Bavarian countryside, the sleek Lanserhof Tegernsee (lanserhof.com) feels very much like alpha-male territory – all crisp spare lines, with an emphasis on results in the white-on-white spa.
In Baden-Baden, pretty Villa Stephanie (oetkercollection.com) is especially pleasing if you’re on your own or want to take the place over in its entirety: there are only 15 rooms. It’s attached to a holistically orientated medical and dentistry clinic where the star of the show, Dr Harry Konig, attracts patients from all over the world. Many turn to him when they have exhausted mainstream medical offerings.
A similarly minded team of doctors – all keen to explore natural treatments – are in residence at Buchinger Wilhelmi (buchinger-wilhelmi.com), on the shore of Lake Constance. This is one of the few clinics in the world to specialise in fasting; it's run by the great grandson of the founder, Dr Otto Buchinger, whose rheumatoid arthritis was cured by a regime of fasting. Agony for the first day or two, then unexpectedly easy, the programme can cure a range of diseases. A 10-day stay costs from Dh10,778.
India
Astonishingly well-priced for what it offers – excellent practitioners of Ayurvedic, Tibetan and traditional Chinese medicine in an exquisitely minimalist setting backed by forest – Vana Wellness Retreat (vana.co.in) will tempt you to stay put for as long as possible. And not only because of the slog of a journey it takes to get there – a flight to Dehradun and a three-hour drive past paddy fields.
It’s a delight: calm, uncluttered, with delectable vegetarian food, yoga classes in the open air, an abundance of health-orientated books in the library and a pleasing sense of privacy. Endearingly shy, owner Veer Singh, heir to a pharmaceutical family fortune, is often around, quietly delighting in seeing the power of ancient treatments proved yet again. A seven-night stay starts at Dh7,000, while a transformational 30-day stay costs about Dh29,495.
The Philippines
The Farm (thefarmatsanbenito.com) is 33-room “holistic eco-resort” in a deliciously jungly setting, located 90 minutes by car from Manila. It has been a hideout for dozens of high-profile guests wanting to lose weight, diabetes and hypertension management are specialities.
Founder Dr Elizabeth Ixmeier practices integrative medicine (blending mainstream and alternative approaches) with IV therapy and live-blood analysis aimed to shock you into wanting to improve the ragged shape of your corpuscles. Stays start at Dh2,130 a night.
Spain
Sha Emirates is scheduled to open in 2023, after Sha Mexico, but for the time being, the Sha Wellness Clinic (shawellnessclinic.com) has one location, half an hour's drive from Alicante.
The founder is a man on a mission. His father saw his cancer cured after switching to the kind of vegetarian diet enforced at the spa. A drive to spread the word about the life-changing possibilities of a change of diet, plus doctors specialising in a range of conditions, combined with the ease of getting there, have helped ensure its popularity.
Switzerland
Excellence in all things could be the Swiss motto. The lakeside Clinique La Prairie (cliniquelaprairie.com), near Montreux, established its reputation in the 1930s and is arguably the best medi-spa in the world. It has 50 specialist doctors, two operating theatres and 14 recovery suites, all just across the garden from a light-filled, elegant spa and 32-room residential building. It’s super-expensive, of course. It costs Dh149,000 if you book the week-long intensive Premium Revitalisation programme.
Meanwhile, there's a team of 30 doctors working at Grand Resort Bad Ragaz (resortragaz.ch), an hour's drive from Zurich and in the foothills of the Alps. It's also where the Swiss Olympic ski teams get checked out. And at the new Burgenstock resort, perched on a mountaintop above Lake Lucerne, the 137-room Waldhotel medi-spa (buergenstock.ch) has such an exhilarating setting that you'll feel healthier before you've settled into any treatment programme. Two-room suites work well for family groups.
Thailand
On the beach at the Thai royals’ favoured resort, Hua Hin, a three-hour drive from Bangkok, Chiva-Som (chivasom.com) has been routinely pulling in celebrity guests such as Kate Moss for more than 30 years. That’s thanks to outstanding yoga therapists, gym instructors and painless detoxes (the food here is a miracle of low-calorie deliciousness).
In numbers: China in Dubai
The number of Chinese people living in Dubai: An estimated 200,000
Number of Chinese people in International City: Almost 50,000
Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2018/19: 120,000
Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2010: 20,000
Percentage increase in visitors in eight years: 500 per cent
RACE CARD
6.30pm Al Maktoum Challenge Round-1 Group 1 (PA) Dh119,373 (Dirt) 1,600m
7.05pm Handicap (TB) Dh102,500 (D) 1,200m
7.40pm Handicap (TB) Dh105,000 (Turf) 1,800m
8.15pm UAE 1000 Guineas Trial (TB) Dh183,650 (D) 1,400m
9.50pm Handicap (TB) Dh105,000 (D) 1,600m
9.25pm Handicap (TB) Dh95,000 (T) 1,000m
Dr Amal Khalid Alias revealed a recent case of a woman with daughters, who specifically wanted a boy.
A semen analysis of the father showed abnormal sperm so the couple required IVF.
Out of 21 eggs collected, six were unused leaving 15 suitable for IVF.
A specific procedure was used, called intracytoplasmic sperm injection where a single sperm cell is inserted into the egg.
On day three of the process, 14 embryos were biopsied for gender selection.
The next day, a pre-implantation genetic report revealed four normal male embryos, three female and seven abnormal samples.
Day five of the treatment saw two male embryos transferred to the patient.
The woman recorded a positive pregnancy test two weeks later.
Pox that threatens the Middle East's native species
Camelpox
Caused by a virus related to the one that causes human smallpox, camelpox typically causes fever, swelling of lymph nodes and skin lesions in camels aged over three, but the animal usually recovers after a month or so. Younger animals may develop a more acute form that causes internal lesions and diarrhoea, and is often fatal, especially when secondary infections result. It is found across the Middle East as well as in parts of Asia, Africa, Russia and India.
Falconpox
Falconpox can cause a variety of types of lesions, which can affect, for example, the eyelids, feet and the areas above and below the beak. It is a problem among captive falcons and is one of many types of avian pox or avipox diseases that together affect dozens of bird species across the world. Among the other forms are pigeonpox, turkeypox, starlingpox and canarypox. Avipox viruses are spread by mosquitoes and direct bird-to-bird contact.
Houbarapox
Houbarapox is, like falconpox, one of the many forms of avipox diseases. It exists in various forms, with a type that causes skin lesions being least likely to result in death. Other forms cause more severe lesions, including internal lesions, and are more likely to kill the bird, often because secondary infections develop. This summer the CVRL reported an outbreak of pox in houbaras after rains in spring led to an increase in mosquito numbers.
U19 WORLD CUP, WEST INDIES
UAE group fixtures (all in St Kitts)
- Saturday 15 January: UAE beat Canada by 49 runs
- Thursday 20 January: v England
- Saturday 22 January: v Bangladesh
UAE squad:
Alishan Sharafu (captain), Shival Bawa, Jash Giyanani, Sailles
Jaishankar, Nilansh Keswani, Aayan Khan, Punya Mehra, Ali Naseer, Ronak Panoly,
Dhruv Parashar, Vinayak Raghavan, Soorya Sathish, Aryansh Sharma, Adithya
Shetty, Kai Smith
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
MORE ON TURKEY'S SYRIA OFFENCE
Profile Box
Company/date started: 2015
Founder/CEO: Mohammed Toraif
Based: Manama, Bahrain
Sector: Sales, Technology, Conservation
Size: (employees/revenue) 4/ 5,000 downloads
Stage: 1 ($100,000)
Investors: Two first-round investors including, 500 Startups, Fawaz Al Gosaibi Holding (Saudi Arabia)
THE SPECS
2020 Toyota Corolla Hybrid LE
Engine: 1.8 litre combined with 16-volt electric motors
Transmission: Automatic with manual shifting mode
Power: 121hp
Torque: 142Nm
Price: Dh95,900
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