UAE

Kidney dialysis centre being built in Sharjah

The UAE's first dialysis unit, funded by a private investor, will be built in Sharjah to help fill a gap in beds.

Mitya Underwood

December 24, 2008

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Sharjah // A dialysis centre offering free treatment is to be built in Sharjah, it was announced yesterday. The centre, which is to be ready in 2010, is expected to have more than 100 beds and house a number of machines to deal with emergencies and young children. Currently some of the estimated 1,000 dialysis patients across the UAE receive treatment only twice a week -ideally it should be three times - because of a shortage of facilities across the country.

Mariam Khalfan, the director of the Society of Kidney Patients Friends, said the land for the centre has been donated by Dr Sheikh Sultan bin Mohammed, the Ruler of Sharjah. The building itself is being funded by a private investor. It will be operated by the society in co-operation with the Ministry of Health. The group, which was set up in May 2007, seeks to make people more aware of kidney diseases, provide financial and medical help to patients.

Yesterday, it began a fund-raising campaign to pay for the equipment by selling greeting cards in shopping centres across the UAE and asking for donations. "We are now studying exactly what we need in the specialist centre," Mrs Khalfan said. "It will be a very big centre. The land has been given to us by His Highness and there is another lady who will pay for the building. "We want to raise money to help get equipment and fund the project. We will have different wards for things such as emergency patients.

Diabetes is the main cause of kidney failure, and the UAE has the second-highest diabetes rate in the world. Dr Abrar Khan, the director of transplantation and hepatobiliary surgery at Sheikh Khalifa Medical City in Abu Dhabi, said the facility would be a very good addition to health care in the UAE. "Obviously if it is built to a high quality standard and is offering free care is a great thing. "There is a shortage [of facilities] here because the incidence of diabetes is quite large."

It is widely accepted that the UAE is running low on dialysis facilities. In the Executive Council's 2007-08 policy agenda for Abu Dhabi, it identifies a need for four dialysis centres in Abu Dhabi alone. In May, the Ministry of Health said it would introduce mobile clinics to collect data from rural areas and perform medical examinations. munderwood@thenational.ae

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1. Domestic VAT refund amendments: request your refund within five years

If a business does not apply for the refund on time, they lose their credit.

2. E-invoicing in the UAE

Businesses should continue preparing for the implementation of e-invoicing in the UAE, with 2026 a preparation and transition period ahead of phased mandatory adoption. 

3. More tax audits

Tax authorities are increasingly using data already available across multiple filings to identify audit risks. 

4. More beneficial VAT and excise tax penalty regime

Tax disputes are expected to become more frequent and more structured, with clearer administrative objection and appeal processes. The UAE has adopted a new penalty regime for VAT and excise disputes, which now mirrors the penalty regime for corporate tax.

5. Greater emphasis on statutory audit

There is a greater need for the accuracy of financial statements. The International Financial Reporting Standards standards need to be strictly adhered to and, as a result, the quality of the audits will need to increase.

6. Further transfer pricing enforcement

Transfer pricing enforcement, which refers to the practice of establishing prices for internal transactions between related entities, is expected to broaden in scope. The UAE will shortly open the possibility to negotiate advance pricing agreements, or essentially rulings for transfer pricing purposes. 

7. Limited time periods for audits

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8. Pillar 2 implementation 

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9. Reduced compliance obligations for imported goods and services

Businesses that apply the reverse-charge mechanism for VAT purposes in the UAE may benefit from reduced compliance obligations. 

10. Substance and CbC reporting focus

Tax authorities are expected to continue strengthening the enforcement of economic substance and Country-by-Country (CbC) reporting frameworks. In the UAE, these regimes are increasingly being used as risk-assessment tools, providing tax authorities with a comprehensive view of multinational groups’ global footprints and enabling them to assess whether profits are aligned with real economic activity. 

Contributed by Thomas Vanhee and Hend Rashwan, Aurifer

 

 

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