An ampoule of dexamethasone. Researchers say the corticosteroid, used to treat some infections and cancers, could be an effective treatment for Covid-19. Reuters
An ampoule of dexamethasone. Researchers say the corticosteroid, used to treat some infections and cancers, could be an effective treatment for Covid-19. Reuters
An ampoule of dexamethasone. Researchers say the corticosteroid, used to treat some infections and cancers, could be an effective treatment for Covid-19. Reuters
An ampoule of dexamethasone. Researchers say the corticosteroid, used to treat some infections and cancers, could be an effective treatment for Covid-19. Reuters

Coronavirus: Four Middle East states trialing breakthrough Covid-19 treatment


Mina Aldroubi
  • English
  • Arabic

A widely used steroid is the first medicine shown to save the lives of Covid-19 patients, the World Health Organisation said on Tuesday.

More than 100 countries including Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Kuwait and Pakistan have joined clinical trials of dexamethasone, said Ahmed Al Mandhari, the WHO’s director for the Eastern Mediterranean.

Jordan will join the test countries, Dr Al Mandhari said.

He said the WHO was in the final stage of testing the drug and 1.5 million test tools had been given to 129 countries.

"In general, about 40 hospitals from the [Mena] region were included in clinical trials," the official told the Asharq Al Awsat  newspaper.

The drug, used since the 1960s to treat some infections and cancers, has been described as a “major breakthrough” in the pandemic, Dr Al Mandhari said.

The WHO said clinical trials in the UK found that dexamethasone can save the lives of patients who are severely ill with Covid-19.

More than 9.2 million infections with the coronavirus that causes the disease have been confirmed worldwide, a tally kept by Johns Hopkins University shows.

“For patients using ventilators, this treatment has been shown to reduce mortality by about a third," Dr Al Mandhari said.

"And for patients who only need oxygen, the death rate has been reduced by about a fifth."

He was referring to preliminary results Britain shared with the health agency.

“This is the first treatment that has been shown to reduce mortality in Covid-19 patients who need oxygen support,” Dr Al Mandhari said.

The disease, caused by the coronavirus, has killed more than 476,000 people globally.

Dexamethasone is on the US Food and Drug Administration’s list of drugs in short supply.

But suppliers including one of the largest, Germany’s Fresenius, said they had it available.

Dr Al Mandhari raised concern that many countries in the Middle East were easing restrictions against the pandemic without “adhering to the guidelines issued by the WHO, which constitutes a risk as cases continue to increase”.

He said conflict also posed a huge challenge to the world body’s ability to respond to the crisis.

This was caused by “the fragile health systems in the countries of conflict, the deterioration of infrastructure, the lack of medical personnel and the population being in generally poor health".

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COMPANY PROFILE

Name: Lamsa

Founder: Badr Ward

Launched: 2014

Employees: 60

Based: Abu Dhabi

Sector: EdTech

Funding to date: $15 million

ESSENTIALS

The flights

Emirates flies from Dubai to Phnom Penh via Yangon from Dh2,700 return including taxes. Cambodia Bayon Airlines and Cambodia Angkor Air offer return flights from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap from Dh250 return including taxes. The flight takes about 45 minutes.

The hotels

Rooms at the Raffles Le Royal in Phnom Penh cost from $225 (Dh826) per night including taxes. Rooms at the Grand Hotel d'Angkor cost from $261 (Dh960) per night including taxes.

The tours

A cyclo architecture tour of Phnom Penh costs from $20 (Dh75) per person for about three hours, with Khmer Architecture Tours. Tailor-made tours of all of Cambodia, or sites like Angkor alone, can be arranged by About Asia Travel. Emirates Holidays also offers packages. 

Key facilities
  • Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
  • Premier League-standard football pitch
  • 400m Olympic running track
  • NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
  • 600-seat auditorium
  • Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
  • An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
  • Specialist robotics and science laboratories
  • AR and VR-enabled learning centres
  • Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
The Settlers

Director: Louis Theroux

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Rating: 5/5

NO OTHER LAND

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Studying addiction

This month, Dubai Medical College launched the Middle East’s first master's programme in addiction science.

Together with the Erada Centre for Treatment and Rehabilitation, the college offers a two-year master’s course as well as a one-year diploma in the same subject.

The move was announced earlier this year and is part of a new drive to combat drug abuse and increase the region’s capacity for treating drug addiction.

U19 World Cup in South Africa

Group A: India, Japan, New Zealand, Sri Lanka

Group B: Australia, England, Nigeria, West Indies

Group C: Bangladesh, Pakistan, Scotland, Zimbabwe

Group D: Afghanistan, Canada, South Africa, UAE

UAE fixtures

Saturday, January 18, v Canada

Wednesday, January 22, v Afghanistan

Saturday, January 25, v South Africa

UAE squad

Aryan Lakra (captain), Vriitya Aravind, Deshan Chethyia, Mohammed Farazuddin, Jonathan Figy, Osama Hassan, Karthik Meiyappan, Rishabh Mukherjee, Ali Naseer, Wasi Shah, Alishan Sharafu, Sanchit Sharma, Kai Smith, Akasha Tahir, Ansh Tandon

Fifa Club World Cup:

When: December 6-16
Where: Games to take place at Zayed Sports City in Abu Dhabi and Hazza bin Zayed Stadium in Al Ain
Defending champions: Real Madrid

How to play the stock market recovery in 2021?

If you are looking to build your long-term wealth in 2021 and beyond, the stock market is still the best place to do it as equities powered on despite the pandemic.

Investing in individual stocks is not for everyone and most private investors should stick to mutual funds and ETFs, but there are some thrilling opportunities for those who understand the risks.

Peter Garnry, head of equity strategy at Saxo Bank, says the 20 best-performing US and European stocks have delivered an average return year-to-date of 148 per cent, measured in local currency terms.

Online marketplace Etsy was the best performer with a return of 330.6 per cent, followed by communications software company Sinch (315.4 per cent), online supermarket HelloFresh (232.8 per cent) and fuel cells specialist NEL (191.7 per cent).

Mr Garnry says digital companies benefited from the lockdown, while green energy firms flew as efforts to combat climate change were ramped up, helped in part by the European Union’s green deal. 

Electric car company Tesla would be on the list if it had been part of the S&P 500 Index, but it only joined on December 21. “Tesla has become one of the most valuable companies in the world this year as demand for electric vehicles has grown dramatically,” Mr Garnry says.

By contrast, the 20 worst-performing European stocks fell 54 per cent on average, with European banks hit by the economic fallout from the pandemic, while cruise liners and airline stocks suffered due to travel restrictions.

As demand for energy fell, the oil and gas industry had a tough year, too.

Mr Garnry says the biggest story this year was the “absolute crunch” in so-called value stocks, companies that trade at low valuations compared to their earnings and growth potential.

He says they are “heavily tilted towards financials, miners, energy, utilities and industrials, which have all been hit hard by the Covid-19 pandemic”. “The last year saw these cheap stocks become cheaper and expensive stocks have become more expensive.” 

This has triggered excited talk about the “great value rotation” but Mr Garnry remains sceptical. “We need to see a breakout of interest rates combined with higher inflation before we join the crowd.”

Always remember that past performance is not a guarantee of future returns. Last year’s winners often turn out to be this year’s losers, and vice-versa.

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
THE SPECS

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Power: 416hp at 7,000rpm

Torque: 410Nm at 3,500rpm

Transmission: 6-speed manual

Fuel consumption: 10.2 l/100km

Price: Dh375,000 

On sale: now 

US households add $601bn of debt in 2019

American households borrowed another $601 billion (Dh2.2bn) in 2019, the largest yearly gain since 2007, just before the global financial crisis, according to February data from the New York Federal Reserve Bank.

Fuelled by rising mortgage debt as homebuyers continued to take advantage of low interest rates, the increase last year brought total household debt to a record high, surpassing the previous peak reached in 2008 just before the market crash, according to the report.

Following the 22nd straight quarter of growth, American household debt swelled to $14.15 trillion by the end of 2019, the New York Fed said in its quarterly report.

In the final three months of the year, new home loans jumped to their highest volume since the fourth quarter of 2005, while credit cards and auto loans also added to the increase.

The bad debt load is taking its toll on some households, and the New York Fed warned that more and more credit card borrowers — particularly young people — were falling behind on their payments.

"Younger borrowers, who are disproportionately likely to have credit cards and student loans as their primary form of debt, struggle more than others with on-time repayment," New York Fed researchers said.