DUBAI // Thousands of dialysis patients have been given hope of a new life with the opening of the emirate’s first kidney transplant centre.
Dubai Hospital is the emirate’s first to offer transplants for those with kidney failure, meaning dialysis patients will no longer have to travel abroad for surgery.
Health authorities have welcomed the news, saying transplants are a much better option than dialysis and allow the patient to live a normal life.
“Dubai Hospital has seen a steep rise in the number of patients with kidney diseases,” said Dr Abdulrazzak Al Madani, chief executive of the hospital.
“We provide a dialysis service to hundreds of patients and the numbers are on the rise.
“We realised there is a need for introducing kidney transplant services so that patients do not need to travel abroad.”
The first kidney transplant at the centre is expected to be performed in April.
The only other authorised transplant centre in the country is at Sheikh Khalifa Medical City (SKMC) in Abu Dhabi.
“By providing this service locally, we will be able to reduce the time these patients spend in hospitals for dialysis, improve their work and exercise capacity and overall health and life expectancy, so that they lead a normal life and resume their full-time employment,” said Dr Al Madani.
Dr Ammar Abdulbaki, a transplant nephrologist at SKMC, welcomed the clinic’s opening.
“This is very good news. I am very happy,” said Dr Abdulbaki. “It is a big development for the UAE.
“There are many people who are awaiting kidney transplants. I would say we have about 1,600 dialysis patients in the country and about half of them need a transplant.”
Diabetes, for which the UAE has one of the world’s highest rates, is the main cause of kidney failure.
Patients with renal failure can suffer medical problems including blood clots and inflammation, and must undergo painful procedures such as having a catheter fitted.
Dr Farhad Aljanahi, specialist urologist and transplant surgeon at Dubai Hospital, said many dialysis patients had already been identified as suitable candidates.
Dr Aljanahi said the transplant team would first focus on transplanting kidneys from live donors, including relatives.
“A large percentage of our patients develop chronic kidney disease as a secondary complication of diabetes or high blood pressure, which are both becoming increasingly prevalent in our region,” he said.
“Many of them gradually proceed to end-stage kidney disease and kidney transplantation offers them a better life. Kidney patients on average need costly dialysis treatment three times a week, up to five hours at a time.
“Dialysis is a death sentence. No one can sustain it for ever. At most, dialysis provides about 10 to 20 per cent of the kidney function. Transplants for the patient are much, much better than dialysis.”
The Dubai centre is collaborating with a transplant team from the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland and the Beaumont Hospital in Dublin.
Beaumont holds the National Kidney Transplant Centre, one of Europe’s leading kidney and pancreas transplant clinics.
Last year, the Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Health and Awqaf, or General Authority of Islamic Affairs and Endowments, finally endorsed organ transplants from a deceased donor.
Transplants were legalised in 1993 but the law failed to include a medical definition of death, and whether it included brain death, making it impossible to use organs from dead patients.
But this was finally clarified and in May the first kidney transplant from a deceased donor was carried out on a 23-year-old woman in Abu Dhabi.
Dr Abdulbaki, also medical director of SKMC’s transplant programme, helped to revise the law.
The law requires authorities be formed to regulate organ transplants, including the National Transplant Centre, which will allocate the organs, and the National Transplant Committee.
Dr Abdulbaki said he could envision many more transplant centres opening.
jbell@thenational.ae
How Beautiful this world is!
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.”
MATCH INFO
Everton 2 Southampton 1
Everton: Walcott (15'), Richarlison (31' )
Southampton: Ings (54')
Man of the match: Theo Walcott (Everton)
Company%20profile
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EName%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20WonderTree%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20April%202016%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ECo-founders%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Muhammad%20Waqas%20and%20Muhammad%20Usman%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Karachi%2C%20Pakistan%2C%20Abu%20Dhabi%2C%20UAE%2C%20and%20Delaware%2C%20US%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ESector%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Special%20education%2C%20education%20technology%2C%20assistive%20technology%2C%20augmented%20reality%3Cbr%3EN%3Cstrong%3Eumber%20of%20staff%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E16%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestment%20stage%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EGrowth%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestors%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Grants%20from%20the%20Lego%20Foundation%2C%20UAE's%20Anjal%20Z%2C%20Unicef%2C%20Pakistan's%20Ignite%20National%20Technology%20Fund%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Without Remorse
Directed by: Stefano Sollima
Starring: Michael B Jordan
4/5
The specs
Engine: 2-litre or 3-litre 4Motion all-wheel-drive Power: 250Nm (2-litre); 340 (3-litre) Torque: 450Nm Transmission: 8-speed automatic Starting price: From Dh212,000 On sale: Now
if you go
The flights
Etihad, Emirates and Singapore Airlines fly direct from the UAE to Singapore from Dh2,265 return including taxes. The flight takes about 7 hours.
The hotel
Rooms at the M Social Singapore cost from SG $179 (Dh488) per night including taxes.
The tour
Makan Makan Walking group tours costs from SG $90 (Dh245) per person for about three hours. Tailor-made tours can be arranged. For details go to www.woknstroll.com.sg
Guide to intelligent investing
Investing success often hinges on discipline and perspective. As markets fluctuate, remember these guiding principles:
- Stay invested: Time in the market, not timing the market, is critical to long-term gains.
- Rational thinking: Breathe and avoid emotional decision-making; let logic and planning guide your actions.
- Strategic patience: Understand why you’re investing and allow time for your strategies to unfold.
