Siemens will look to list a minority of Healthineers, which makes X-ray and MRI machines in the first half of 2018
Siemens will look to list a minority of Healthineers, which makes X-ray and MRI machines in the first half of 2018

Prominent UAE scientist urges greater investment in preventive health care



Private investors are missing an opportunity to invest in long-term preventive health care in the UAE – a critical area as the country faces rising rates of "lifestyle" illness such as diabetes, according to the prominent scientist and founder of the UAE Genetic Diseases Association, Dr Maryam Matar.

“Investors focus on curative measures, which is essential, but there is a huge lack of investment in prevention. This is what we are missing from investors,” Dr Matar said.

“Prevention is one of those areas where investors do not get income so quickly, not because it’s high-risk but because it takes patience. You are looking at solutions that could take 15 years [to bear results], so it needs capital from true investors willing to make smart investments and stay in them for the long term.”

Demand for healthcare provision in the Middle East and North Africa is rising due to a rapidly expanding population. The region is forecast to need 470,000 additional hospital beds in the next five years to keep up with minimum per capita requirements set by the OECD, according to the consultancy JLL – equating to 3,130 new hospitals over the same period.

This gap in service provision has prompted policymakers to explore preventive, rather than curative, strategies to improve the overall health of populations and reduce the pressure on infrastructure.

A report from the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) this year claimed the GCC is in the “grip of a healthcare crisis” brought about by an increasingly sedentary lifestyle and a diet laden with sugar, leading to a rise in chronic diseases.

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“In the case of many of these non-communicable diseases (NCDs) – particularly obesity, diabetes, heart disease and cancer – early diagnosis and preventive health care can have a large positive impact, either preventing diseases from occurring or effectively managing them once they have developed, to produce better patient outcomes and quality of life,” the report said.

Healthcare expenditure in the GCC for diabetes is forecast to increase to US$21.8 billion by 2040, from $12.8bn in 2015, according to a separate report by the EIU and EY in May, demonstrating the scale of investment required.

Speaking at a healthcare symposium in Dubai, Dr Matar said there was a worrying lack of investment in strategies to improve overall health.

Particular untapped opportunities include the establishment of sleep clinics (“there is no single comprehensive sleep clinic in the region”, she said), provision of high-quality water and inclusion of gyms and fitness services within primary healthcare centres.

She also called for investment to improve medical education and increase the supply of "genetic counsellors" to support people with inherited genetic conditions.

“We have only one licensed genetic counsellor in Dubai, can you imagine?” the doctor told the symposium.

“The whole industry is booming with laboratories providing genetic screening, but there is no ethical protocol requiring you to provide your patient with proper genetic counselling that helps them decide what to do with this information.”

The emerging field of "epigenetics", which explores the relationship between genetic make-up and external environmental factors, is another untapped opportunity.  “Previously, we thought we were born with this bunch of DNA, and there was nothing we could do about it, but now we realise we can control those nasty genes that increase our risk for specific illnesses such as diabetes, cancer, Alzheimer’s and obesity,” Dr Matar said.

“Right now, if I were an investor, I would focus on ways that an individual could switch off all those genes. These are the types of investments we need and, unfortunately, there is no single investment company here working on any of that.”

She urged individuals and companies to align their investment strategies with the preventive-orientated objectives of the UAE Government to achieve better outcomes in the long term.

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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

In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe

Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010

Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille

Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm

Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year

Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”

Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners

TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013 

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heading

Iran has sent five planeloads of food to Qatar, which is suffering shortages amid a regional blockade.

A number of nations, including Iran's major rival Saudi Arabia, last week cut ties with Qatar, accusing it of funding terrorism, charges it denies.

The land border with Saudi Arabia, through which 40% of Qatar's food comes, has been closed.

Meanwhile, mediators Kuwait said that Qatar was ready to listen to the "qualms" of its neighbours.

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1. Fasting

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3. Hajj

4. Shahada

5. Zakat 

The five pillars of Islam
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Your UK residence status is assessed using the statutory residence test. While your residence status – ie where you live - is assessed every year, your domicile status is assessed over your lifetime.

Your domicile of origin generally comes from your parents and if your parents were not married, then it is decided by your father. Your domicile is generally the country your father considered his permanent home when you were born. 

UK residents who have their permanent home ("domicile") outside the UK may not have to pay UK tax on foreign income. For example, they do not pay tax on foreign income or gains if they are less than £2,000 in the tax year and do not transfer that gain to a UK bank account.

A UK-domiciled person, however, is liable for UK tax on their worldwide income and gains when they are resident in the UK.

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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.”

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