ABU DHABI // Emirati women aged between 40 and 69 will be required to have annual mammograms to renew their Thiqa health insurance, in the latest move to cut breast cancer rates in the emirate.
The Health Authority - Abu Dhabi (HAAD) said the move is likely to save "many women's lives".
Breast cancer is the most common cancer in the UAE, accounting for 22.8 per cent of the total number of cancer cases, according to the National Cancer Registry.
Despite the high incidence, only 30 per cent of breast cancer cases are diagnosed in the early stages, before the cancer has spread, when survival rates are much higher.
The disease is fatal in 44 per cent of cases in the UAE, according to HAAD. Between 1998 and 2007 the National Cancer Registry, based at Tawam Hospital in Al Ain, recorded 2,121 cases of breast cancer, although not all hospitals reported figures.
Of the reported cases, 76 were in patients under 30 years old. The most common age for diagnosis was between 45 and 49.
A HAAD official said: "Using local data we have been able to estimate that for every 600 women who undertake mammography screening, one woman's life is saved from breast cancer.
"By asking women to make appointments for mammography screening before renewing their Thiqa card, many women's lives will be saved.
"Screening with mammography remains the only single intervention shown in randomised controlled trials to significantly reduce death rates from breast cancer."
More than 580,000 people have enrolled in the Thiqa programme, which is managed by the national insurance company Daman, since its launch last summer, although it is not known how many of these are women.
According to the American Cancer Society, 61 per cent of cases in the US are diagnosed at an early, localised stage.
These women have a 98 per cent five-year survival rate.
The society also said that mammography in women aged between 39 and 74 reduced death rates by between 16 and 32 per cent.
If these figures were applied to the UAE, the percentage of deaths could fall from 44 to as low as 12.
According to HAAD, the disease will affect one woman in eight at some point in her life.
According to the Breast Cancer Care group in the UK, the rate there is one in nine.
Everyone signing up for Thiqa originally was required to undergo a medical test - Weqaya - that included height, weight, blood pressure and glucose and cholesterol checks.
"While in its first year Weqaya screening was for the risk factors of cardiovascular disease," a HAAD official said, "this year it has been extended to include mammography screening as breast cancer is one of the top public health priorities of HAAD."
Women who are eligible for a mammogram will be contacted by HAAD directly by telephone or SMS.
The authority has asked the public to "respond positively", reminding them that the mammogram is required for a Thiqa card.
One of the biggest stumbling blocks to reducing the number of late-diagnosis breast cancer cases is the social taboo.
Dr Arati Shirali, an oncoplastic breast surgeon who has worked in the UAE for seven years, said the health authority's decision to make mammograms compulsory should help lift the taboo in the long term.
"This is a major event and a very great idea," she said. "By making it something normal, and something not to be ashamed about, it will help get rid of the social taboo.
"It will be just like getting a blood pressure test."
Dr Shirali said it was essential that the compulsory mammograms be combined with information about how to self-examine and monitor one's own breast health.
In October 2007 the UAE was chosen as one of 10 nations to take part in an international campaign to raise awareness about breast cancer.
The Global Initiative for Breast Cancer Awareness explored areas of research, diagnosis and treatment of the disease.
Mammogram appointments can be booked at www.simplycheck.ae, or by calling Weqaya on 80061116.
munderwood@thenational.ae
Company profile
Company name: Dharma
Date started: 2018
Founders: Charaf El Mansouri, Nisma Benani, Leah Howe
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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.”
Living in...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
TOURNAMENT INFO
Women’s World Twenty20 Qualifier
Jul 3- 14, in the Netherlands
The top two teams will qualify to play at the World T20 in the West Indies in November
UAE squad
Humaira Tasneem (captain), Chamani Seneviratne, Subha Srinivasan, Neha Sharma, Kavisha Kumari, Judit Cleetus, Chaya Mughal, Roopa Nagraj, Heena Hotchandani, Namita D’Souza, Ishani Senevirathne, Esha Oza, Nisha Ali, Udeni Kuruppuarachchi
Cryopreservation: A timeline
- Keyhole surgery under general anaesthetic
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- Tissue processed in a high-tech facility
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Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
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
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The rules on fostering in the UAE
A foster couple or family must:
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- 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
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million