A Zambian healthcare worker tests for malaria in a rural village during one of the Roll Back Malaria Partnership's programmes. Malaria kills about 430,000 people every year. Thierry Roge / Reuters
A Zambian healthcare worker tests for malaria in a rural village during one of the Roll Back Malaria Partnership's programmes. Malaria kills about 430,000 people every year. Thierry Roge / Reuters

Malaria kills a child every two minutes - and experts fear it'll worsen without more action



Every two minutes, a child dies of malaria, and experts fear the rate could rise without better progress and more funding to tackle a disease that kills millions.

At the Reaching the Last Mile conference in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday, a panel of speakers warned of the disease's spread and its resistance to some of the main drugs used to treat it.

Malaria is a life-threatening disease caused by parasites that are transmitted through the bites of infected female Anopheles mosquitoes.

According to the World Health Organisation, in 2015, 91 countries and areas had ongoing malaria transmission and there were about 212 million cases and 430,000 deaths, the World Health Organisation estimated. Ninety per cent of cases and deaths were in Sub-Saharan Africa that year.

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“The malaria parasite is quickly developing resistance, which highlights the continued need of research and development. Innovations are crucial," said Austin Burt, professor of Evolutionary Genetics and Imperial College and Principal investigator of Target Malaria.

"Millions of lives have been saved but more tools and innovation needed. The key features we are looking for are innovations that will reduce transmission and inexpensive and feasible to deploy."

Increased prevention and control measures has led to a 29 per cent reduction in malaria mortality rates globally since 2010.

But earlier this year scientists warned of the rapid spread of 'super malaria' in South East Asia. The Mahidol-Oxford Tropical Medicine Research Unit in Bangkok warned there was a danger the disease would become untreatable.

The first choice treatment for malaria is artemisinin in combination with piperaquine, but the parasite has evolved to resist both and in Vietnam the drug failed a third of the time. In Cambodia it was closer to 60 per cent of the time.

"We need to eliminate Malaria in at least 35 countries and are calling for a doubling for our funding and services which will allows us to reduce malaria," said Dr Pedro Alonso, the WHO's director of the global malaria programme.

Funding has stalled both an an international and regional level, he said.

“And that translates into the lack of progress we have seen in the past years.

"We are off track, we can get back on track, but we need support from international countries. I’m always horrified to see that 30 per cent of cases get treated. There is still 70 per cent who are not. We could do a lot better."

Since 2011, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed has donated $30 million towards eradicating malaria.

“Twice we eliminated but we couldn’t sustain it. We had a bad experience. It is difficult to control,” said Sri Lanka's minister of health Dr Rajitha Harischandra Senaratne.

He cited reasons for that like travel and a need for more awareness

“We need a continuous campaigns and surveillance,” he said.

Dr Matshidiso Moeti, WHO regional director for Africa, said that the UAE had made tremendous contributions through the Roll Back Malaria Partnership. Dr Maha Barakat, Advisor to the Executive Office, Abu Dhabi Government, is a Roll Back Malaria Partnership Board Member.

“Efforts to fight malaria have started to slow down and our concern is that it is reversing. The resources need to scale up,” Dr Moeti said.

“There is funding coming from outside and the global fund but we want this to a high political priority for the national authority.

"We want the presidents of countries where malaria is an endemic to talk about malaria when they talk to the wold fund about development – not just about road and infrastructure. Those are important but when you have a large number of people sick with malaria that is bad for your economy; dying of malaria, that is even worse for your economies.”

The UAE she said could do several things – “mobilise leadership at a global level, in terms of the global decisions, so that the leaders of endemic countries allocate money themselves.

"I would like to see a president, ask his minister, 'why is this going on now'? 'What is going on'?

"'What problems are you having? What are the issues in terms of resources or accountability? I think people like the Crown Prince [of Abu Dhabi] can remind that world leaders that this is a priority, do something about it... and keep this on the international and global health agenda."

Real estate tokenisation project

Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.

The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.

Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.

The National's picks

4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young

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What is the FNC?

The Federal National Council is one of five federal authorities established by the UAE constitution. It held its first session on December 2, 1972, a year to the day after Federation.
It has 40 members, eight of whom are women. The members represent the UAE population through each of the emirates. Abu Dhabi and Dubai have eight members each, Sharjah and Ras al Khaimah six, and Ajman, Fujairah and Umm Al Quwain have four.
They bring Emirati issues to the council for debate and put those concerns to ministers summoned for questioning. 
The FNC’s main functions include passing, amending or rejecting federal draft laws, discussing international treaties and agreements, and offering recommendations on general subjects raised during sessions.
Federal draft laws must first pass through the FNC for recommendations when members can amend the laws to suit the needs of citizens. The draft laws are then forwarded to the Cabinet for consideration and approval. 
Since 2006, half of the members have been elected by UAE citizens to serve four-year terms and the other half are appointed by the Ruler’s Courts of the seven emirates.
In the 2015 elections, 78 of the 252 candidates were women. Women also represented 48 per cent of all voters and 67 per cent of the voters were under the age of 40.
 

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Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal

Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham

Rating: 3.5/5

Our legal consultant

Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais

Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants

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
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets

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The White Lotus: Season three

Creator: Mike White

Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell

Rating: 4.5/5

Biog:

Age: 34

Favourite superhero: Batman

Favourite sport: anything extreme

Favourite person: Muhammad Ali 

THE%20SPECS
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The specs
 
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo
Power: 398hp from 5,250rpm
Torque: 580Nm at 1,900-4,800rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L/100km
On sale: December
Price: From Dh330,000 (estimate)
Indoor cricket in a nutshell

Indoor Cricket World Cup – Sep 16-20, Insportz, Dubai

16 Indoor cricket matches are 16 overs per side

8 There are eight players per team

There have been nine Indoor Cricket World Cups for men. Australia have won every one.

5 Five runs are deducted from the score when a wickets falls

Batsmen bat in pairs, facing four overs per partnership

Scoring In indoor cricket, runs are scored by way of both physical and bonus runs. Physical runs are scored by both batsmen completing a run from one crease to the other. Bonus runs are scored when the ball hits a net in different zones, but only when at least one physical run is score.

Zones

A Front net, behind the striker and wicketkeeper: 0 runs

B Side nets, between the striker and halfway down the pitch: 1 run

Side nets between halfway and the bowlers end: 2 runs

Back net: 4 runs on the bounce, 6 runs on the full

A MINECRAFT MOVIE

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Three ways to boost your credit score

Marwan Lutfi says the core fundamentals that drive better payment behaviour and can improve your credit score are:

1. Make sure you make your payments on time;

2. Limit the number of products you borrow on: the more loans and credit cards you have, the more it will affect your credit score;

3. Don't max out all your debts: how much you maximise those credit facilities will have an impact. If you have five credit cards and utilise 90 per cent of that credit, it will negatively affect your score.

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Colette

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Starring: Keira Knightley, Dominic West

Our take: 3/5

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The biog

Profession: Senior sports presenter and producer

Marital status: Single

Favourite book: Al Nabi by Jibran Khalil Jibran

Favourite food: Italian and Lebanese food

Favourite football player: Cristiano Ronaldo

Languages: Arabic, French, English, Portuguese and some Spanish

Website: www.liliane-tannoury.com

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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.

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.”

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 

The Bio

Favourite place in UAE: Al Rams pearling village

What one book should everyone read: Any book written before electricity was invented. When a writer willingly worked under candlelight, you know he/she had a real passion for their craft

Your favourite type of pearl: All of them. No pearl looks the same and each carries its own unique characteristics, like humans

Best time to swim in the sea: When there is enough light to see beneath the surface

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" 

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Engine: 1.5-litre turbo

Power: 181hp

Torque: 230Nm

Transmission: 6-speed automatic

Starting price: Dh79,000

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The biog

Name: Mariam Ketait

Emirate: Dubai

Hobbies: I enjoy travelling, experiencing new things, painting, reading, flying, and the French language

Favourite quote: "Be the change you wish to see" - unknown

Favourite activity: Connecting with different cultures

About Takalam

Date started: early 2020

Founders: Khawla Hammad and Inas Abu Shashieh

Based: Abu Dhabi

Sector: HealthTech and wellness

Number of staff: 4

Funding to date: Bootstrapped