Contraceptive pills:
■ Women must be made aware of contraceptive pill risks, say UAE doctors
■ UAE residents warn against oral contraceptive side effects
■ Contraceptives rarely covered by health insurance in UAE
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ABU DHABI // Women who have suffered from ailments after taking oral contraceptives have urged caution about using the pills.
H K, 27, a Jordanian who lives in Abu Dhabi, was diagnosed with deep-vein thrombosis in one of her legs just a month after starting to use the pills.
“I started taking it a week before my wedding, and three weeks later I was admitted to hospital with a urine infection,” she said.
“I had severe pain in my right leg while I was in the hospital, then the doctors diagnosed that I had deep-vein thrombosis in the leg because of the birth-control pills. I stayed in the hospital without moving for a week. The pain was unbelievable, the leg was swollen and they had to give me medicines to sleep.”
She was told to avoid air travel for six months and not to get pregnant for a year.
“Following this, I will need to consult my gynaecologist before I try to have a baby,” she said. “This turned my life upside down. I was unable to travel for long distances, no sports were allowed for a year, and now I am always on high risk for getting it back.
“Even if I want to travel for long distances, I have to take a strong blood thinner before I leave. I wish I had not taken this medicine.”
J M, 44, a Colombian mother-of-two who lives in Abu Dhabi, was on the pill for a year and also developed DVT.
“I have a condition that makes the blood thicker when I am on pills and I was not aware of this family history,” she said. “I found out when I was in hospital for a week. I lost my first child due to complications.”
She urged: “Get examined properly before starting the pill. Be more cautious and careful and find out your family history,” she said.
G H, 46, a Briton, was on the pill for 18 years.
“Three years ago, I started having the most blinding headaches and I would be pill popping for days. There was a pattern. I went to a doctor and he told me my age put me in a high-risk category and he asked me to stop taking the pill immediately,” said the Abu Dhabi resident.
“Go to a reputable person. If you have a nagging doubt, definitely get a second opinion. You are the person who knows your body. Speak to your friends and ask about the gynaecologists they go to,” she said.
A DVT is a blood clot that forms in a deep leg vein. In a patient who has DVT, the blood flow in the vein is partially or completely blocked by the blood clot.
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About this package:
UAE doctors are warning women against the potential side effects of oral contraceptive pills. They say women need to be made aware of serious health risks such as blood clots and heart attacks to the more mild ones like weight gain or fluid retention.
With no plans for contraceptive pills and intrauterine devices to be included under health insurance coverage, women who have suffered from ailments after using oral contraceptives have urged caution.
arizvi2@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.”
The bio
Favourite vegetable: Broccoli
Favourite food: Seafood
Favourite thing to cook: Duck l'orange
Favourite book: Give and Take by Adam Grant, one of his professors at University of Pennsylvania
Favourite place to travel: Home in Kuwait.
Favourite place in the UAE: Al Qudra lakes
