Middle East records fastest rise in HIV cases in 20 years


Jamie Prentis
  • English
  • Arabic

The Middle East and North Africa region has documented the largest increase in HIV infections, rising by 31 per cent in the past two decades, a report from pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca said.

Referring to figures collated by Unaids, the report — titled The Forgotten Millions: Mapping Immunocompromised Patients in the Middle East and North Africa — said 180,000 people in the region were living with HIV/Aids last year.

“The Mena region is one of a few global regions seeing a rapid increase in HIV infections, with a 31 per cent increase since 2001,” the report said.

"In fact, it has seen the highest documented increase compared to all regions in the world in this period."

It also found that diabetes and cancer account for as much as a third of the current disease burden in the Middle East and North Africa.

The report, the first of its kind, mapped people living with compromised immune systems — who are at a higher risk of developing complications from Covid-19 — in the region.

“There is a lack of comprehensive data on these populations in the Middle East and North Africa region, where incidence of some of these conditions might be much higher than the global average,” Dr Viraj Rajadhyaksha, AstraZeneca area medical director for the Middle East and Africa, told a webinar launching the report.

He said the report advocated strategies that protected high-risk people during the Covid-19 pandemic and would continue to do so.

“These strategies would include supporting governments to collect more data on vulnerable groups, involving people and populations and communities in the Middle East and North Africa region in more studies to maximise the availability of real-world evidence, and updating our regional and local guidance so that healthcare workers present patients with a clear set of options,” said Dr Rajadhyaksha.

He said the immune systems of high-risk patients had less capability of fighting off infections.

"They might be unable to respond as effectively to vaccines, leaving them often vulnerable to severe disease," he added.

During the Covid-19 pandemic, high-risk people had to take increased safety measures to protect themselves from the virus — including stricter forms of self-isolation.

"We need to focus on people living with these conditions, non communicable diseases ... the Mena region has very high and growing rates of non-communicable disease and chronic conditions," said Dr Ibtihal Fadhil, president and founder of the Eastern Mediterranean Non-Communicable Diseases Alliance.

The report said more than a million people were living with cancer — the fourth-biggest killer — with bladder, colorectal, liver and lung the most common.

“Countries in the region show a disturbing rise in the number of cancer patients, with long-term projections of a nearly two-fold increase cancer incidence by 2030,” the report said.

“As a result, Mena is also projected to experience a significant increase in cancer deaths in the coming decades.”

About 8.1 per cent of the region's population — more than 70 million people — have diabetes, the highest proportion in the world.

The highest rates for the disease were in Kuwait (24.9 per cent of the population), Egypt (20.9 per cent) and Qatar (19.5 per cent).

Those with weak immune systems were heavily affected during the Covid-19 pandemic and researchers highlighted a lack of comprehensive data on the immunocompromised in Mena, “leaving millions of people across the region vulnerable and disrupting efforts to end the pandemic”.

The report points out that while Covid-19 is seemingly under control in most parts of the world, for those "who do not mount an optimal immune response to vaccination, the pandemic continues".

The writers urged policymakers to “accelerate the collection of centralised data on high-risk groups, including the creation of national registries, in order to better map the scale and spread of vulnerable population, prioritising those at highest risk”.

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Your Guide to the Home
  • Level 1 has a valet service if you choose not to park in the basement level. This level houses all the kitchenware, including covetable brand French Bull, along with a wide array of outdoor furnishings, lamps and lighting solutions, textiles like curtains, towels, cushions and bedding, and plenty of other home accessories.
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Specs – Taycan 4S
Engine: Electric

Transmission: 2-speed auto

Power: 571bhp

Torque: 650Nm

Price: Dh431,800

Specs – Panamera
Engine: 3-litre V6 with 100kW electric motor

Transmission: 2-speed auto

Power: 455bhp

Torque: 700Nm

Price: from Dh431,800

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
  • Priority access to new homes from participating developers
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  • Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
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ESSENTIALS

The flights 
Emirates, Etihad and Swiss fly direct from the UAE to Zurich from Dh2,855 return, including taxes.
 

The chalet
Chalet N is currently open in winter only, between now and April 21. During the ski season, starting on December 11, a week’s rental costs from €210,000 (Dh898,431) per week for the whole property, which has 22 beds in total, across six suites, three double rooms and a children’s suite. The price includes all scheduled meals, a week’s ski pass, Wi-Fi, parking, transfers between Munich, Innsbruck or Zurich airports and one 50-minute massage per person. Private ski lessons cost from €360 (Dh1,541) per day. Halal food is available on request.

Company%20Profile
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Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
 
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
 
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
 
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
 
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
Specs
Engine: Electric motor generating 54.2kWh (Cooper SE and Aceman SE), 64.6kW (Countryman All4 SE)
Power: 218hp (Cooper and Aceman), 313hp (Countryman)
Torque: 330Nm (Cooper and Aceman), 494Nm (Countryman)
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh158,000 (Cooper), Dh168,000 (Aceman), Dh190,000 (Countryman)
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Starring: Sydney Elizebeth Agudong, Maia Kealoha, Chris Sanders

Director: Dean Fleischer Camp

Rating: 4.5/5

What is an ETF?

An exchange traded fund is a type of investment fund that can be traded quickly and easily, just like stocks and shares. They come with no upfront costs aside from your brokerage's dealing charges and annual fees, which are far lower than on traditional mutual investment funds. Charges are as low as 0.03 per cent on one of the very cheapest (and most popular), Vanguard S&P 500 ETF, with the maximum around 0.75 per cent.

There is no fund manager deciding which stocks and other assets to invest in, instead they passively track their chosen index, country, region or commodity, regardless of whether it goes up or down.

The first ETF was launched as recently as 1993, but the sector boasted $5.78 billion in assets under management at the end of September as inflows hit record highs, according to the latest figures from ETFGI, a leading independent research and consultancy firm.

There are thousands to choose from, with the five largest providers BlackRock’s iShares, Vanguard, State Street Global Advisers, Deutsche Bank X-trackers and Invesco PowerShares.

While the best-known track major indices such as MSCI World, the S&P 500 and FTSE 100, you can also invest in specific countries or regions, large, medium or small companies, government bonds, gold, crude oil, cocoa, water, carbon, cattle, corn futures, currency shifts or even a stock market crash. 

Sole survivors
  • Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
  • George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
  • Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
  • Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
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Wayne Rooney's career

Everton (2002-2004)

  • Appearances: 48
  • Goals: 17
     

Manchester United (2004-2017)

  • Appearances: 496
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England (2003-)

  • Appearances: 119
  • Goals: 53
Tearful appearance

Chancellor Rachel Reeves set markets on edge as she appeared visibly distraught in parliament on Wednesday. 

Legislative setbacks for the government have blown a new hole in the budgetary calculations at a time when the deficit is stubbornly large and the economy is struggling to grow. 

She appeared with Keir Starmer on Thursday and the pair embraced, but he had failed to give her his backing as she cried a day earlier.

A spokesman said her upset demeanour was due to a personal matter.

About Takalam

Date started: early 2020

Founders: Khawla Hammad and Inas Abu Shashieh

Based: Abu Dhabi

Sector: HealthTech and wellness

Number of staff: 4

Funding to date: Bootstrapped

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets

Correspondents

By Tim Murphy

(Grove Press)

The Prison Letters of Nelson Mandela
Edited by Sahm Venter
Published by Liveright

SPECS
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The specs
  • Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
  • Power: 640hp
  • Torque: 760nm
  • On sale: 2026
  • Price: Not announced yet
About Okadoc

Date started: Okadoc, 2018

Founder/CEO: Fodhil Benturquia

Based: Dubai, UAE

Sector: Healthcare

Size: (employees/revenue) 40 staff; undisclosed revenues recording “double-digit” monthly growth

Funding stage: Series B fundraising round to conclude in February

Investors: Undisclosed

The specs

Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cyl turbo

Power: 247hp at 6,500rpm

Torque: 370Nm from 1,500-3,500rpm

Transmission: 10-speed auto

Fuel consumption: 7.8L/100km

Price: from Dh94,900

On sale: now

Maestro
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Dubai Bling season three

Cast: Loujain Adada, Zeina Khoury, Farhana Bodi, Ebraheem Al Samadi, Mona Kattan, and couples Safa & Fahad Siddiqui and DJ Bliss & Danya Mohammed 

Rating: 1/5

The specs

Engine: 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbo

Power: 178hp at 5,500rpm

Torque: 280Nm at 1,350-4,200rpm

Transmission: seven-speed dual-clutch auto

Price: from Dh209,000 

On sale: now

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How The Debt Panel's advice helped readers in 2019

December 11: 'My husband died, so what happens to the Dh240,000 he owes in the UAE?'

JL, a housewife from India, wrote to us about her husband, who died earlier this month. He left behind an outstanding loan of Dh240,000 and she was hoping to pay it off with an insurance policy he had taken out. She also wanted to recover some of her husband’s end-of-service liabilities to help support her and her son.

“I have no words to thank you for helping me out,” she wrote to The Debt Panel after receiving the panellists' comments. “The advice has given me an idea of the present status of the loan and how to take it up further. I will draft a letter and send it to the email ID on the bank’s website along with the death certificate. I hope and pray to find a way out of this.”

November 26:  ‘I owe Dh100,000 because my employer has not paid me for a year’

SL, a financial services employee from India, left the UAE in June after quitting his job because his employer had not paid him since November 2018. He owes Dh103,800 on four debts and was told by the panellists he may be able to use the insolvency law to solve his issue. 

SL thanked the panellists for their efforts. "Indeed, I have some clarity on the consequence of the case and the next steps to take regarding my situation," he says. "Hopefully, I will be able to provide a positive testimony soon."

October 15: 'I lost my job and left the UAE owing Dh71,000. Can I return?'

MS, an energy sector employee from South Africa, left the UAE in August after losing his Dh12,000 job. He was struggling to meet the repayments while securing a new position in the UAE and feared he would be detained if he returned. He has now secured a new job and will return to the Emirates this month.

“The insolvency law is indeed a relief to hear,” he says. "I will not apply for insolvency at this stage. I have been able to pay something towards my loan and credit card. As it stands, I only have a one-month deficit, which I will be able to recover by the end of December." 

Updated: June 19, 2023, 1:26 PM`