The UAE will embark on a drive to promote vaccination as part of a national health campaign.
The Cabinet, headed by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, approved a country-wide policy on immunisation on Monday.
The National Policy on Vaccinations aims to ensure high-quality vaccines and preventive care for many illnesses - not just Covid-19 - are widely available in the Emirates.
Other main objectives include raising awareness of the importance of immunisation as well as supporting innovation and research.
It also includes a push to promote a healthy lifestyle as the best defence against many diseases. Many governments have realised the extent to which high rates of obesity and diabetes, among other lifestyle conditions, make people susceptible to severe forms of Covid-19, among other illnesses.
According to the Cabinet, the UAE's new policy will apply across sectors and provides a framework for combating communicable diseases and reducing their risks to individuals and society.
The Minister of Health and Prevention, Abdulrahman Al Owais, said the ministry would would do all it could to support the policy by "ensuring the provision of the best immunisation services and providing quality vaccines that comply with the highest international standards and national safety practices."
The policy was announced as countries race to develop a vaccine against the virus that causes Covid-19.
There are currently six research laboratories in Phase 3 of World Health Organisation-recognised clinical trials for a vaccine. Among them is one developed by Chinese pharmaceutical company Sinopharm that is undergoing trials in the UAE.
Dr Jamal Al Kaabi, undersecretary of Department of Health Abu Dhabi, said that when a vaccine is ready, there would be a campaign to inform and educate the public and dispel any myths that may exist.
"It is really important to give [the public] information about the vaccine – how safe it is – and how effective it is."
"People have uncertainty about all the different types of vaccine being developed right now around the world, because they don’t think they will actually be part of a vaccination campaign soon," he said.
"But this will change soon when we see a vaccine that is approved - and I think people will realise how important it is to get one."
More than 31,000 volunteers have taken part in the study in Abu Dhabi, authorities said in late August. All volunteers who received both doses of the vaccine were found to have developed antibodies against the Sars-CoV-2 coronavirus, officials said.
Vaccines are mandatory for children in the UAE from birth until they reach grade 11.
The Ministry of Health and Prevention issues a vaccination card for children to record their immunisations and ensure they are compliant with the National Immunisation Programme.
The number of cases involving infectious diseases in the UAE has fallen significantly since the programme was introduced in1980.
In 1993, the UAE was declared a polio-free country. There has also been a significant drop in the number of cases involving measles, mumps and rubella, and whooping coughs.
Our legal consultant
Name: Dr Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
Libya's Gold
UN Panel of Experts found regime secretly sold a fifth of the country's gold reserves.
The panel’s 2017 report followed a trail to West Africa where large sums of cash and gold were hidden by Abdullah Al Senussi, Qaddafi’s former intelligence chief, in 2011.
Cases filled with cash that was said to amount to $560m in 100 dollar notes, that was kept by a group of Libyans in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.
A second stash was said to have been held in Accra, Ghana, inside boxes at the local offices of an international human rights organisation based in France.
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Countries recognising Palestine
France, UK, Canada, Australia, Portugal, Belgium, Malta, Luxembourg, San Marino and Andorra
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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.”
From Zero
Artist: Linkin Park
Label: Warner Records
Number of tracks: 11
Rating: 4/5
