ABU DHABI // When three-year-old Sara Bouhida had a high temperature and stomach pains, her parents thought that it was a common childhood ailment.
It was only when her condition deteriorated, and they had to make a late-night trip to the emergency department at Sheikh Khalifa Medical City, that Sumeia and Hassan Bouhida found out that their daughter had cancer.
Doctors diagnosed leukaemia in Sara in February 2008. Now five, she has endured two years of chemotherapy at the capital's largest public hospital.
More than 400 children are receiving treatment, or have been treated, at the hospital. The staff work hard to make it more of a family environment than a clinical one.
To mark International Childhood Cancer Day yesterday, the hospital hosted a party for its young patients and their families.
Face-painting, drawing, arts and crafts, and a special dance performance were organised for more than 30 of the ward's patients. They were also given gifts by staff.
Mrs Bouhida, from Libya, was one of the guests. "I am very proud of my girl," she said. "The doctors and nurses here are so good. They understand all your worries and will help with anything they can."
It was reassuring to meet families going through the same thing with their children. "Seeing children who have finished their treatment helps us a lot," she said. "These are all normal little children and they are treated very well here."
Cancer is still a relatively taboo topic in the Arab world.
Indeed, Mrs Bouhida did not know that it could affect children before Sara fell ill. "I hadn't heard before that children had cancer but now I see two or three new children come here every week," she said.
"Cancer is not something to be ashamed about and events like this show people how proud we are."
Sara's sister Selima, eight, is a familiar face at the hospital. "They are very good, it is hard for children to understand but the nurses and doctors help all of us," Mrs Bouhida said.
Doctors say Sara faces six more months of chemotherapy. She has recently started attending the British School-Al Khubairat in between her monthly sessions. "She is a normal little girl," her mother said.
The hospital's paediatric oncology unit has 13 in-patient beds and a 10-bed day unit. According to the central cancer registry, based at Tawam Hospital in Al Ain, leukaemia and brain cancer are the most common childhood cancers in the UAE.
Dr Azzam Alzoebie, senior consultant and head of the paediatric haematology and oncology programme, said the unit followed about 420 former patients, from one month to 15 years old.
Another mother at yesterday's event, who did not want to be named, said it was "very tough" to cope with a child who had cancer. The hospital's staff provided invaluable support, she added.
"My daughter doesn't understand very much about it, but she loves coming here, she sees it as a day out," the mother said. Her four-year-old girl has a brain tumour and receives treatment on a six-month cycle. "She thinks she is getting vitamins put into her body, she is too young to understand."
Support from the hospital staff was not simply a benefit, but a necessity, the woman said. "Sometimes family do not understand, they just think 'poor girl'. Here the staff understand everything we are all feeling."
Dr Alzoebie said part of the hospital's role in the community was to raise awareness of childhood cancer.
According to the International Confederation of Childhood Cancer Parent Organisation, up to 100,000 children die each year because they do not have access to the right services.
With the right treatment, between 75 and 80 per cent of patients would survive, it says. International Childhood Cancer Day, an annual event, has been marked at Sheikh Khalifa Medical City for the past five years.
"Our objective for participating is to promote the importance of early diagnosis of all different types of cancer and getting the right treatment," said Dr Tej Maini, the hospital's chief executive.
The hospital was committed to educating not only the patients "but also the community on disease control and prevention", he said.
Saeed al Ali, 36, travels to the hospital from Umm al Qaiwain with his nine-year-old son, who has leukaemia. The boy faces nearly two more years of treatment before life can return to normal. After his first round of treatment in Bangkok, the family decided to travel back and forth to Abu Dhabi.
"The nurses and doctors are available all the time on the phone to answer any questions we have," said Mr al Ali, an administrator.
"My son is a very normal boy who loves cycling, football and his laptop. He comes here every 28 days, and everyone is very good to him."
munderwood@thenational.ae
The specs
AT4 Ultimate, as tested
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Power: 420hp
Torque: 623Nm
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Price: From Dh330,800 (Elevation: Dh236,400; AT4: Dh286,800; Denali: Dh345,800)
On sale: Now
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Rock in a Hard Place: Music and Mayhem in the Middle East
Orlando Crowcroft
Zed Books
Election pledges on migration
CDU: "Now is the time to control the German borders and enforce strict border rejections"
SPD: "Border closures and blanket rejections at internal borders contradict the spirit of a common area of freedom"
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
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
ICC T20 Rankings
1. India - 270 ranking points
2. England - 265 points
3. Pakistan - 261 points
4. South Africa - 253 points
5. Australia - 251 points
6. New Zealand - 250 points
7. West Indies - 240 points
8. Bangladesh - 233 points
9. Sri Lanka - 230 points
10. Afghanistan - 226 points
Other key dates
-
Finals draw: December 2
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Finals (including semi-finals and third-placed game): June 5–9, 2019
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Euro 2020 play-off draw: November 22, 2019
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Euro 2020 play-offs: March 26–31, 2020
SPEC%20SHEET%3A%20APPLE%20M3%20MACBOOK%20AIR%20(13%22)
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The rules on fostering in the UAE
A foster couple or family must:
- be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
- not be younger than 25 years old
- not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
- be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
- have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
- undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his or her health and well-being
- A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Electric scooters: some rules to remember
- Riders must be 14-years-old or over
- Wear a protective helmet
- Park the electric scooter in designated parking lots (if any)
- Do not leave electric scooter in locations that obstruct traffic or pedestrians
- Solo riders only, no passengers allowed
- Do not drive outside designated lanes
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre flat-six
Torque: 450Nm at 6,100rpm
Transmission: 7-speed PDK auto or 6-speed manual
Fuel economy, combined: 13.8L/100km
On sale: Available to order now
COMPANY%20PROFILE%20
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Ms Yang's top tips for parents new to the UAE
- Join parent networks
- Look beyond school fees
- Keep an open mind
How to wear a kandura
Dos
- Wear the right fabric for the right season and occasion
- Always ask for the dress code if you don’t know
- Wear a white kandura, white ghutra / shemagh (headwear) and black shoes for work
- Wear 100 per cent cotton under the kandura as most fabrics are polyester
Don’ts
- Wear hamdania for work, always wear a ghutra and agal
- Buy a kandura only based on how it feels; ask questions about the fabric and understand what you are buying
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
Mobile phone packages comparison
The specs: 2018 Honda City
Price, base: From Dh57,000
Engine: 1.5L, in-line four-cylinder
Transmission: Continuously variable transmission
Power: 118hp @ 6,600rpm
Torque: 146Nm @ 4,600rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 5.8L / 100km
The Travel Diaries of Albert Einstein The Far East, Palestine, and Spain, 1922 – 1923
Editor Ze’ev Rosenkranz
Princeton
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
The burning issue
The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE.
Read part four: an affection for classic cars lives on
Read part three: the age of the electric vehicle begins
Read part one: how cars came to the UAE
Match info
Uefa Champions League Group F
Manchester City v Hoffenheim, midnight (Wednesday, UAE)
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Nayanthara: Beyond The Fairy Tale
Starring: Nayanthara, Vignesh Shivan, Radhika Sarathkumar, Nagarjuna Akkineni
Director: Amith Krishnan
Rating: 3.5/5
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
The bio
Favourite book: Kane and Abel by Jeffrey Archer
Favourite quote: “The world makes way for the man who knows where he is going.” - Ralph Waldo Emerson, American essayist
Favourite Authors: Arab poet Abu At-Tayyib Al-Mutanabbi
Favourite Emirati food: Luqaimat, a deep-fried dough soaked in date syrup
Hobbies: Reading and drawing
Cryopreservation: A timeline
- Keyhole surgery under general anaesthetic
- Ovarian tissue surgically removed
- Tissue processed in a high-tech facility
- Tissue re-implanted at a time of the patient’s choosing
- Full hormone production regained within 4-6 months
Guns N’ Roses’s last gig before Abu Dhabi was in Hong Kong on November 21. We were there – and here’s what they played, and in what order. You were warned.
- It’s So Easy
- Mr Brownstone
- Chinese Democracy
- Welcome to the Jungle
- Double Talkin’ Jive
- Better
- Estranged
- Live and Let Die (Wings cover)
- Slither (Velvet Revolver cover)
- Rocket Queen
- You Could Be Mine
- Shadow of Your Love
- Attitude (Misfits cover)
- Civil War
- Coma
- Love Theme from The Godfather (movie cover)
- Sweet Child O’ Mine
- Wichita Lineman (Jimmy Webb cover)
- Wish You Were Here (instrumental Pink Floyd cover)
- November Rain
- Black Hole Sun (Soundgarden cover)
- Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door (Bob Dylan cover)
- Nightrain
Encore:
- Patience
- Don’t Cry
- The Seeker (The Who cover)
- Paradise City
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Five expert hiking tips
Always check the weather forecast before setting off
Make sure you have plenty of water
Set off early to avoid sudden weather changes in the afternoon
Wear appropriate clothing and footwear
Take your litter home with you
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
Company%20profile
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MATCH INFO
Chelsea 1
Alonso (62')
Huddersfield Town 1
Depoitre (50')
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Skewed figures
In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458.
