DUBAI // The first dedicated children's hospital in the country is to be built to address a shortage of specialist care. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, is funding the hospital to mark the first birthday of his daughter Sheikha Al Jalilah today. He has inspected and approved the hospital's initial designs, said Qadi al Murooshid, director general of the Dubai Health Authority.
It will be called Al Jalilah bint Mohammed bin Rashid Paediatric Hospital. Doctors around the emirates have welcomed the announcement. Currently there are no specialist hospitals in the UAE that treat only children. Dr Anwar Malick, a paediatrician at the Gulf Diagnostic Centre in Abu Dhabi, said he had seen a dramatic rise in the need for children's services over the 25 years he has been working in the UAE.
"There is definitely a need for a specialist hospital," he said. "With the population of the UAE rising so quickly, the number of children is rising quickly also. This will be very good for everyone." A number of other hospitals across the UAE have recently either started building, or announced plans to build, more paediatric beds. munderwood@thenational.ae