Dubai enlists nurses in battle with asthma

Selected nurses in Dubai will receive specialised training in the prevention and treatment of asthma as part of the emirate's drive to make the UAE a centre of excellence in fighting the respiratory disease. The UAE has one of the highest rates of asthma in the world, and the Dubai Health Authority (DHA) hopes to station specialist nurses in clinics across the emirate, officials said yesterday.

According to research by the Global Initiative for Asthma, 15 per cent of the population is affected by the condition, which is more than twice the rate found in Europe. "Poor asthma management is a major cost to the economy and its health care system, not to mention a danger to life and lifestyle," said Dr Bassam Mahboub, the head of the pulmonology department at the DHA. "Therefore we believe that educating and training our primary health care practitioners, like our nurses, will lead to substantial improvement in asthma management."

Dr Mahboub is project leader of the Asthma Management Partnership Initiative, which was set up to improve asthma care in the UAE. Nurses will be certificated through the Respiratory Education UK programme offered by Edge Hill University of England. Once their training is completed, the nurses will be stationed in clinics across the emirate where they can support family doctors in their treatment of asthmatic patients.

Patients will be offered help with managing the condition and how to use medication. "Introducing asthma specialist teams across the our polyclinics will most certainly help diagnose asthma at an early stage and provide effective treatment for our patients," Dr Mahboub said. The Asthma Partnership Initiative will work with the newly created Dubai Respiratory Centre of Excellence to provide guidelines to doctors regarding early intervention and case management.

A report released in October found that 31 per cent of asthma sufferers in the UAE, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon and Oman had been hospitalised at least once due to the disease. amcmeans@thenational.ae

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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.”