Soazan Ahmed Ali, right, with Dubai Health Authority, talks to physicians while collecting forms as part of the new registration process for the agency, held at the Al Murooj Rotana Hotel.
Soazan Ahmed Ali, right, with Dubai Health Authority, talks to physicians while collecting forms as part of the new registration process for the agency, held at the Al Murooj Rotana Hotel.
Soazan Ahmed Ali, right, with Dubai Health Authority, talks to physicians while collecting forms as part of the new registration process for the agency, held at the Al Murooj Rotana Hotel.
Soazan Ahmed Ali, right, with Dubai Health Authority, talks to physicians while collecting forms as part of the new registration process for the agency, held at the Al Murooj Rotana Hotel.

Health

Licence deadline looms over Dubai doctors

The emirate's 6,000 doctors have two weeks to register to reapply for their medical licences, or face fines if they continue to practise.

Mitya Underwood

January 17, 2009

  • English
  • Arabic

DUBAI // The emirate's 6,000 doctors have two weeks to register to reapply for their medical licences, or face fines if they continue to practise. The Dubai Health Authority (DHA) began the process yesterday at a centre set up in Al Murooj Rotana Hotel. All doctors must register online to reapply for their licences before Jan 30 and undertake further training if necessary, as part of a DHA bid to improve standards of care.

Dr Essa Kazim, the head of health regulation at the DHA, said: "The whole purpose is to get an accurate database of all doctors and to prove that the majority in practice are competent and qualified to practice. "Problems [in doctors' applications] that are at a minor level, we would be able to help that doctor achieve the competency levels. That is the grandfathering process. But those of a serious nature, we would then need to think very carefully as to how to address those doctors."

Each doctor has to pay Dh1,000 (US$272) to have any qualifications they submit verified. Dr Anitha Agnel and her husband Dr Agnel George, who have been working in Dubai for six years and practise at the Karama Medical Centre, were among the first physicians to arrive at the relicensing centre yesterday. "I think overall the process is a good thing but there will be some people who think it is wasting time," said Dr Agnel, a gynaecologist and obstetrician who was trained in India.

Each doctor is issued with a username and password allowing them access to the registration programme online. Their application must then be submitted electronically by March 31. More than 15,000 medical professionals in the emirate will eventually be processed. Dr Kazim said doctors had been chosen first because they "are the ones who determine and lead the patient care". Dr Mahmoud Abel Fattah, an orthopaedic doctor at Welcare Hospital, thought the process was good for patients.

"I worked for a short time in Saudi Arabia and came across a few doctors who had fake qualifications or were underqualified," Dr Fattah said. "Relicensing will help find any of these people and look after the patients of Dubai. It has all gone well for me so far." The DHA health regulation team has already visited some of the bigger hospitals in Dubai to give usernames and passwords to the doctors working in them.

munderwood@thenational.ae

On Women's Day
The Byblos iftar in numbers

29 or 30 days – the number of iftar services held during the holy month

50 staff members required to prepare an iftar

200 to 350 the number of people served iftar nightly

160 litres of the traditional Ramadan drink, jalab, is served in total

500 litres of soup is served during the holy month

200 kilograms of meat is used for various dishes

350 kilograms of onion is used in dishes

5 minutes – the average time that staff have to eat
 

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Starring: Lamar Faden, Khairiah Nathmy, Nawaf Al-Dhufairy

Director: Shahad Ameen

Rating: 3/5

While you're here
Super 30

Produced: Sajid Nadiadwala and Phantom Productions
Directed: Vikas Bahl
Cast: Hrithik Roshan, Pankaj Tripathi, Aditya Srivastav, Mrinal Thakur
Rating: 3.5 /5

The National's picks

4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young

MATCH INFO

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Price: From Dh98,800

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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.”

Scores

New Zealand 266 for 9 in 50 overs
Pakistan 219 all out in 47.2 overs 

New Zealand win by 47 runs

Cricket World Cup League 2

UAE squad

Rahul Chopra (captain), Aayan Afzal Khan, Ali Naseer, Aryansh Sharma, Basil Hameed, Dhruv Parashar, Junaid Siddique, Muhammad Farooq, Muhammad Jawadullah, Muhammad Waseem, Omid Rahman, Rahul Bhatia, Tanish Suri, Vishnu Sukumaran, Vriitya Aravind

Fixtures

Friday, November 1 – Oman v UAE
Sunday, November 3 – UAE v Netherlands
Thursday, November 7 – UAE v Oman
Saturday, November 9 – Netherlands v UAE

Thanksgiving meals to try

World Cut Steakhouse, Habtoor Palace Hotel, Dubai. On Thursday evening, head chef Diego Solis will be serving a high-end sounding four-course meal that features chestnut veloute with smoked duck breast, turkey roulade accompanied by winter vegetables and foie gras and pecan pie, cranberry compote and popcorn ice cream.

Jones the Grocer, various locations across the UAE. Jones’s take-home holiday menu delivers on the favourites: whole roast turkeys, an array of accompaniments (duck fat roast potatoes, sausages wrapped in beef bacon, honey-glazed parsnips and carrots) and more, as  well as festive food platters, canapes and both apple and pumpkin pies.

Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse, The Address Hotel, Dubai. This New Orleans-style restaurant is keen to take the stress out of entertaining, so until December 25 you can order a full seasonal meal from its Takeaway Turkey Feast menu, which features turkey, homemade gravy and a selection of sides – think green beans with almond flakes, roasted Brussels sprouts, sweet potato casserole and bread stuffing – to pick up and eat at home.

The Mattar Farm Kitchen, Dubai. From now until Christmas, Hattem Mattar and his team will be producing game- changing smoked turkeys that you can enjoy at home over the festive period.

Nolu’s, The Galleria Mall, Maryah Island Abu Dhabi. With much of the menu focused on a California inspired “farm to table” approach (with Afghani influence), it only seems right that Nolu’s will be serving their take on the Thanksgiving spread, with a brunch at the Downtown location from 12pm to 4pm on Friday.

Day 1, Abu Dhabi Test: At a glance

Moment of the day Dimuth Karunaratne had batted with plenty of pluck, and no little skill, in getting to within seven runs of a first-day century. Then, while he ran what he thought was a comfortable single to mid-on, his batting partner Dinesh Chandimal opted to stay at home. The opener was run out by the length of the pitch.

Stat of the day – 1 One six was hit on Day 1. The boundary was only breached 18 times in total over the course of the 90 overs. When it did arrive, the lone six was a thing of beauty, as Niroshan Dickwella effortlessly clipped Mohammed Amir over the square-leg boundary.

The verdict Three wickets down at lunch, on a featherbed wicket having won the toss, and Sri Lanka’s fragile confidence must have been waning. Then Karunaratne and Chandimal's alliance of precisely 100 gave them a foothold in the match. Dickwella’s free-spirited strokeplay meant the Sri Lankans were handily placed at 227-4 at the close.

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Director: Ed Perkins

Stars: Alex and Marcus Lewis

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