When I was five years old, I had measles. What I remember most, beyond feeling terrible, was how worried my parents were. Statistically only between one and three children out of a thousand with measles will die. It’s a tiny number, until you think it might be your child that makes up the mortality statistics.
I remember lying in a darkened room for about a week, bored, sick, aching, unable to read, uninterested in television or the radio. It was sunny outside but the curtains in my bedroom were closed. Just enough light got in that my eyes still hurt and my father let me wear a pair of his sunglasses.
One of the many unpleasant symptoms of measles is sensitivity to light. The positive lesson of that outbreak for me, my family and millions of others around the world was the prospect of herd immunity if we were vaccinated against common childhood diseases like measles, mumps and rubella, polio and smallpox.
The British government view is clear. The MMR vaccine is the best way to prevent your children getting sick or even risking death
The miracle – as it must have seemed to my parents and older generations – was that vaccination meant it was as if these diseases no longer existed. Nowadays smallpox, caused by the variola virus and feared for its high mortality rate, only exists in laboratories. There have been no known smallpox cases anywhere in the world since 1977.
Vaccination programmes are a public health miracle. They are as significant as providing clean water to eliminate the threat of cholera and other water-borne diseases. What is therefore astonishing to those of us who remember and survived the childhood misery of measles is the degree of “vaccine scepticism” in developed countries.
Measles is back. As a result of the infection spreading among unvaccinated people in Texas, the US is seeing the worst measles outbreak in 33 years. Some speak of a “post-herd immunity” problem, with immunisation rates disrupted after the coronavirus outbreak and also diminished by an increase in vaccine scepticism. This is more accurately defined as the unscientific belief – based on anecdotes and faith rather than research – that vaccines either do not work or are harmful.
US Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F Kennedy Jr is known as a prominent vaccine sceptic. His appointment may further reduce the inclination of some parents to get their children vaccinated. The National Library of Medicine website includes a recent report that “vaccine scepticism is an increasingly important barrier to optimal coverage in developed countries”.
The report goes on to conclude that personal or political views often undermine scientific facts.
“Just like specific political views [for example on reproductive rights, gun control] reflect a broader set of values and a commitment to a certain cultural group, vaccination scepticism typically reflects core beliefs about personal agency, and a spiritual, natural, life-affirming approach to health … [‘I feel that most knowledge comes from spiritual experiences’],” the report says.
Britain is also seeing an upswing in measles cases as a result of a downturn in vaccination rates in some areas. A child died in a hospital in Liverpool recently and parents are being urged to get their children vaccinated. A UK government report says: “In 2024 there were 2,911 laboratory confirmed measles cases in England, the highest number of cases recorded annually, since 2012. This was initially driven by an outbreak in Birmingham but was soon overtaken by a large outbreak in London, with small clusters in other regions.”
The British government view is clear. The MMR vaccine is the best way to prevent your children getting sick or even risking death. But it is worth examining the American experience in detail since it reveals what might be called the information fault-lines in modern society.
Experts providing information on measles and other diseases are distrusted by some sections of the population in modern democracies in ways that would have seemed unimaginable to my parents’ generation. When I was a child, vaccinations against disease were a blessing, not a conspiracy.
Last week, the US National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine issued a joint statement condemning “unnecessary suffering and deaths” caused by the measles outbreak. The statement noted the highest level of measles outbreaks in 25 years and said it was grounds for “reasonable alarm” about “unnecessary suffering” from a disease that was once considered to have been “eliminated” by the MMR vaccine that is “extremely safe and effective”.
Unfortunately, facts and science often fail to triumph over emotions.
The question is why such emotions, fuelled by misinformation, are gaining a hold in the US right now. The World Health Organisation reported that the MMR vaccine prevented about 60 million deaths between 2000 and 2023. Even so, about 107,500 people died from measles in 2023 mostly in Asia and Africa. It is difficult to understand why some in the US act in ways likely to risk their children becoming part of that unhappy statistic.
My father gave me sunglasses. Pseudo-science offers only blinkers.
EA Sports FC 26
Publisher: EA Sports
Consoles: PC, PlayStation 4/5, Xbox Series X/S
Rating: 3/5
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 261hp at 5,500rpm
Torque: 405Nm at 1,750-3,500rpm
Transmission: 9-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 6.9L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh117,059
BMW M5 specs
Engine: 4.4-litre twin-turbo V-8 petrol enging with additional electric motor
Power: 727hp
Torque: 1,000Nm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 10.6L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh650,000
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Ain Dubai in numbers
126: The length in metres of the legs supporting the structure
1 football pitch: The length of each permanent spoke is longer than a professional soccer pitch
16 A380 Airbuses: The equivalent weight of the wheel rim.
9,000 tonnes: The amount of steel used to construct the project.
5 tonnes: The weight of each permanent spoke that is holding the wheel rim in place
192: The amount of cable wires used to create the wheel. They measure a distance of 2,4000km in total, the equivalent of the distance between Dubai and Cairo.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The alternatives
• Founded in 2014, Telr is a payment aggregator and gateway with an office in Silicon Oasis. It’s e-commerce entry plan costs Dh349 monthly (plus VAT). QR codes direct customers to an online payment page and merchants can generate payments through messaging apps.
• Business Bay’s Pallapay claims 40,000-plus active merchants who can invoice customers and receive payment by card. Fees range from 1.99 per cent plus Dh1 per transaction depending on payment method and location, such as online or via UAE mobile.
• Tap started in May 2013 in Kuwait, allowing Middle East businesses to bill, accept, receive and make payments online “easier, faster and smoother” via goSell and goCollect. It supports more than 10,000 merchants. Monthly fees range from US$65-100, plus card charges of 2.75-3.75 per cent and Dh1.2 per sale.
• 2checkout’s “all-in-one payment gateway and merchant account” accepts payments in 200-plus markets for 2.4-3.9 per cent, plus a Dh1.2-Dh1.8 currency conversion charge. The US provider processes online shop and mobile transactions and has 17,000-plus active digital commerce users.
• PayPal is probably the best-known online goods payment method - usually used for eBay purchases - but can be used to receive funds, providing everyone’s signed up. Costs from 2.9 per cent plus Dh1.2 per transaction.
Spain drain
CONVICTED
Lionel Messi Found guilty in 2016 of of using companies in Belize, Britain, Switzerland and Uruguay to avoid paying €4.1m in taxes on income earned from image rights. Sentenced to 21 months in jail and fined more than €2m. But prison sentence has since been replaced by another fine of €252,000.
Javier Mascherano Accepted one-year suspended sentence in January 2016 for tax fraud after found guilty of failing to pay €1.5m in taxes for 2011 and 2012. Unlike Messi he avoided trial by admitting to tax evasion.
Angel di Maria Argentina and Paris Saint-Germain star Angel di Maria was fined and given a 16-month prison sentence for tax fraud during his time at Real Madrid. But he is unlikely to go to prison as is normal in Spain for first offences for non-violent crimes carrying sentence of less than two years.
SUSPECTED
Cristiano Ronaldo Real Madrid's star striker, accused of evading €14.7m in taxes, appears in court on Monday. Portuguese star faces four charges of fraud through offshore companies.
Jose Mourinho Manchester United manager accused of evading €3.3m in tax in 2011 and 2012, during time in charge at Real Madrid. But Gestifute, which represents him, says he has already settled matter with Spanish tax authorities.
Samuel Eto'o In November 2016, Spanish prosecutors sought jail sentence of 10 years and fines totalling €18m for Cameroonian, accused of failing to pay €3.9m in taxes during time at Barcelona from 2004 to 2009.
Radamel Falcao Colombian striker Falcao suspected of failing to correctly declare €7.4m of income earned from image rights between 2012 and 2013 while at Atletico Madrid. He has since paid €8.2m to Spanish tax authorities, a sum that includes interest on the original amount.
Jorge Mendes Portuguese super-agent put under official investigation last month by Spanish court investigating alleged tax evasion by Falcao, a client of his. He defended himself, telling closed-door hearing he "never" advised players in tax matters.
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cylturbo
Transmission: seven-speed DSG automatic
Power: 242bhp
Torque: 370Nm
Price: Dh136,814
RESULTS
Men – semi-finals
57kg – Tak Chuen Suen (MAC) beat Phuong Xuan Nguyen (VIE) 29-28; Almaz Sarsembekov (KAZ) beat Zakaria Eljamari (UAE) by points 30-27.
67kg – Mohammed Mardi (UAE) beat Huong The Nguyen (VIE) by points 30-27; Narin Wonglakhon (THA) v Mojtaba Taravati Aram (IRI) by points 29-28.
60kg – Yerkanat Ospan (KAZ) beat Amir Hosein Kaviani (IRI) 30-27; Long Doan Nguyen (VIE) beat Ibrahim Bilal (UAE) 29-28
63.5kg – Abil Galiyev (KAZ) beat Truong Cao Phat (VIE) 30-27; Nouredine Samir (UAE) beat Norapat Khundam (THA) RSC round 3.
71kg – Shaker Al Tekreeti (IRQ) beat Fawzi Baltagi (LBN) 30-27; Amine El Moatassime (UAE) beat Man Kongsib (THA) 29-28
81kg – Ilyass Hbibali (UAE) beat Alexandr Tsarikov (KAZ) 29-28; Khaled Tarraf (LBN) beat Mustafa Al Tekreeti (IRQ) 30-27
86kg – Ali Takaloo (IRI) beat Mohammed Al Qahtani (KSA) RSC round 1; Emil Umayev (KAZ) beat Ahmad Bahman (UAE) TKO round
ENGLAND SQUAD
Eoin Morgan (captain), Moeen Ali, Jonny Bairstow, Sam Billings, Jos Buttler, Tom Curran, Alex Hales, Liam Plunkett, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Jason Roy, Ben Stokes, David Willey, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
MATCH INFO
Manchester United v Everton
Where: Old Trafford, Manchester
When: Sunday, kick-off 7pm (UAE)
How to watch: Live on BeIN Sports 11HD
Kanguva
Director: Siva
Stars: Suriya, Bobby Deol, Disha Patani, Yogi Babu, Redin Kingsley
