ABU DHABI // A website to give women advice and information on breast cancer and other related illnesses has been set up a by a leading surgeon in the field.
Dr Arati Shirali said ignorance, fear and embarrassment surrounding breast cancer in Middle Eastern cultures prompted her to start the resource, believed to be the first UAE-based website of its kind.
"I have had several unique experiences of breast diseases and cancer in young women, pregnant women and with women who have been traumatised by the social pressures of even discussing the disease," Dr Shirali said. "Some women have been socially ostracised, some have had marriage proposals for their daughters turned down.
"Ignorance of the disease and cultural pressures make society conclude that the presentation of a breast disease implies the woman has breast cancer."
The site, beautybeyondbreast.com, includes an e-mail system that women can use to ask questions they may be too embarrassed or afraid to ask their own doctors.
Dr Shirali has been a breast surgeon for 10 years and helped set up the breast unit at Al Mafraq Hospital in Abu Dhabi.
She also wants to set up a support group to help teach women how to examine their breasts, and also provide advice for women who have breast cancer and other breast-related conditions.
She said one of the biggest problems in the UAE is a general lack of awareness about breast illnesses.
"As soon as someone notices or feels a change they immediately panic and think cancer," Dr Shirali said. "I want women to be less afraid and to understand more.
"A lump in the breast does not always mean cancer. The more we talk about this, and the more information which is available means more women will know that if they look after themselves and their own health, a lot of the problems can be dealt with."
According to the National Cancer Registry, based at Tawam Hospital in Al Ain, 22.8 per cent of diagnosed cancer cases among women in the UAE are breast cancer, making it the country's most common cancer.
It is estimated that only 30 per cent of women in the UAE diagnosed with breast cancer are in early stages of the disease, when the chances of a cure are significantly higher and treatment much less invasive.
The average age of diagnosis among Emiratis is 40 to 45, 10 years younger than the European median and about 20 years below that in the US.
Brigitte Chemla, a general manager of a health insurance company in Dubai, was diagnosed with breast cancer last October. She said anything that raises awareness and gets people talking about breast cancer and its signs is a good thing.
"Awareness is the top subject," she said.
"Being able to speak about it with our daughters, and speak about it with our friends and neighbours and work colleagues is very important.
"I think having a website based in the UAE which takes into account the culture is great. If it is culturally aware it is very good."
The UAE is participating in an international campaign, the Global Initiative for Breast Cancer Awareness, established by the US-based Susan G Komen for the Cure foundation. Other participants include Saudi Arabia, Brazil, Ghana, India, Jordan, Ukraine and Mexico.
Experts including Dr Shirali say that one of the main reasons for the late diagnosis and lack of awareness is a cultural taboo.
"In the western world, 80 to 90 per cent of cases of cancer are detected by hand, but if people here do not like to self-examine and talk about this, the cancers may not be caught soon like they are elsewhere," she said.
Dr Shirali, who is based at the Lifeline Hospital, has tried to make her website as user-friendly as possible, while covering sensitive topics such as lactation.
"I want women to take their health into their own hands. There is no one better to rely on to save a life than yourself," she said.
"I want older and younger women to use the site as a resource to learn about how important it is to know their own bodies and not be afraid to seek advice or help."
@Email:munderwood@thenational.ae
If you go:
Getting there:
Flying to Guyana requires first reaching New York with either Emirates or Etihad, then connecting with JetBlue or Caribbean Air at JFK airport. Prices start from around Dh7,000.
Getting around:
Wildlife Worldwide offers a range of Guyana itineraries, such as its small group tour, the 15-day ‘Ultimate Guyana Nature Experience’ which features Georgetown, the Iwokrama Rainforest (one of the world’s four remaining pristine tropical rainforests left in the world), the Amerindian village of Surama and the Rupununi Savannah, known for its giant anteaters and river otters; wildlifeworldwide.com
Other workplace saving schemes
- The UAE government announced a retirement savings plan for private and free zone sector employees in 2023.
- Dubai’s savings retirement scheme for foreign employees working in the emirate’s government and public sector came into effect in 2022.
- National Bonds unveiled a Golden Pension Scheme in 2022 to help private-sector foreign employees with their financial planning.
- In April 2021, Hayah Insurance unveiled a workplace savings plan to help UAE employees save for their retirement.
- Lunate, an Abu Dhabi-based investment manager, has launched a fund that will allow UAE private companies to offer employees investment returns on end-of-service benefits.
Info
What: 11th edition of the Mubadala World Tennis Championship
When: December 27-29, 2018
Confirmed: men: Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Kevin Anderson, Dominic Thiem, Hyeon Chung, Karen Khachanov; women: Venus Williams
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UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
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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.”
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