Medical workers move a patient in the basement of a maternity hospital that has been converted into a medical ward and bomb shelter in Mariupol, Ukraine, Tuesday, March 1, 2022. AP
Medical workers move a patient in the basement of a maternity hospital that has been converted into a medical ward and bomb shelter in Mariupol, Ukraine, Tuesday, March 1, 2022. AP
Medical workers move a patient in the basement of a maternity hospital that has been converted into a medical ward and bomb shelter in Mariupol, Ukraine, Tuesday, March 1, 2022. AP
Medical workers move a patient in the basement of a maternity hospital that has been converted into a medical ward and bomb shelter in Mariupol, Ukraine, Tuesday, March 1, 2022. AP


Doctors should be the new diplomats


  • English
  • Arabic

June 24, 2022

We live in the deadliest of times since the Second World War. According to the Uppsala Conflict Data Programme, there were 130 armed conflicts in the world by the year 2021 killing 2.9 million people, sharply up from the 86 conflicts that killed 38,000 at the turn of the millennium. The current Russia-Ukraine war adds to the toll.

This does not convey the full horrors of contemporary wars. Presently, two billion people – a quarter of global humanity – are directly and indirectly affected. Ten times more civilians than combatants are killed or injured. They are also displaced, impoverished, raped, tortured and starved as today’s conflicts are often a no-holds-barred affair, as in Ethiopia’s civil war in Tigray. They also last longer – an average of a decade or more. For example, in Syria or Yemen.

It is against that backdrop that the 75th World Health Assembly (WHA) of ministers from 194 countries gathered in Geneva on May 22-28 under the theme of “health for peace, peace for health”. WHA is the decision-making body of the World Health Organisation (WHO) whose mission is to enable everyone, everywhere achieve a safe and healthy life.

Founded in 1948, WHO defines health as complete physical, mental and social well-being and not just the absence of disease or infirmity. It is also a fundamental right under the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Self-evidently, wars are not good for health, and it is right that WHO should turn its mind to it.

However, there is a dilemma at the core of the health-conflict nexus. Healthier populations produce stronger warriors. Conversely, strategists know that attacking the enemy’s civilian infrastructure such as food, water and electricity will sap an opponent’s health and well-being, and so its war-making capacity.

Contagious diseases provide an example of health affecting the course of war. For example, the Crusades in the Middle East and the colonial conquest of the Americas. Deliberate disease spread was tried as a weapon as Napoleon attempted with malaria against the English, and the Nazis against the Allies. Nowadays, we call this bioterrorism, a growing risk at a time when deadly organisms such as Ebola are emerging in the context of climate and environmental change. Additional are the lethal health risks from chemical or nuclear weapons.

Meanwhile, we know from numerous recent pandemics such as human and avian influenza, HIV and Aids, Sars, and Ebola that diseases know no boundaries, and require international co-operation. But, as the ongoing altercations over Covid-19 vaccines and earlier shortages of essential drugs illustrate, access to medical technologies can become an existentialist matter. This has securitised global health and politicised it as a critical agenda for G7, G20 and regional forums.

With health becoming a security matter, its direct targeting gets justified. We see increasing attacks against hospitals, clinics, ambulances, medical supplies and workers. WHO’s surveillance system indicates that there were 343 attacks in 2020 rising to 832 in 2021. And with 453 attacks already registered this year, 2022 could go higher. The statistics underestimate prevalence. Not all attacks are reported and the WHO recording system covers just 17 countries.

Ukraine leads the pack of countries where health care is under assault, followed by Myanmar, Afghanistan, Central African Republic and Syria. Yemen and several African nations such as Sudan, Nigeria, Democratic Republic of Congo and Libya are also prominent.

This happens despite many norms and laws prohibiting attacks on health care and civilians, including the Geneva Conventions, international human rights frameworks, and referrals to the International Criminal Court. These modern constructs build on values as old as humanity itself. In every corner of the world and across all cultures and religions, the sanctity of the healer and their business has always occupied a special place. It seems that our ancestors who fought many brutal wars had also figured out a package of moral and ethical rules to limit their damage.

But these taboos are no longer enough. How has our humanity got so degraded? Epidemiologists seek scientific – not moral – explanations. Some postulate that conflict spread is like a disease, akin to that caused by an infectious virus. Therefore, public health epidemic-reversal strategies should be tried. It means detecting and interrupting potentially violent situations, identifying and changing the thinking and behaviour of those most likely to be violent, and changing group norms that perpetuate the use of violence. The “cure violence” theory has had some success with domestic and community violence in the West.

But local quarrels are far from macro-level wars. Nevertheless, comparable approaches are used by diplomats and development practitioners to address the grievances that underlie modern conflicts. Commonly, this is disgruntlement from contested governance and rights, and desperation of poor people denied their basic livelihoods. But peace dividends from diplomatic and poverty alleviation efforts are rare.

Could other health-inspired strategies foster peace? In Afghanistan, I saw the Taliban carrying flasks of polio vaccine during vaccination ceasefires. During Sri Lanka’s bitter civil war, I listened to potential suicide bombers in trauma-counselling centres undergoing change of heart and mind.

In the 1990s Bosnia war, I helped share medical resources to build co-operation across the Muslim-Serb divide, despite the parallel Srebrenica genocide. In Sudan, even as the Darfur genocide unfolded, I used my position at the UN to push for a change in regulations to ease the access of reproductive and sexual health care to women who were raped.

In Sierra Leone, as a British government official, I went on community radio Kiss FM to negotiate with the rebels whose vicious conduct was legendary even as they demanded their favourite hard rock music to be aired in return for not chopping the limbs of their opponents. In Haiti, I heard how rumours of a cholera outbreak that threatened an explosion were defused by paramedics correcting misinformation.

There are countless examples of similar useful health interventions. But sadly, these countries where I worked are still troubled. Perhaps that is because while health-to-peace interventions are well-intentioned, they appear to work by reinforcing mutual self-interest arising from co-operating across warring divides. In short, they appeal to the selfish part of the human psyche and not the unconditionality that is at the heart of the healing task.

That is why major humanitarian bodies such as the International Red Cross and Red Crescent and Medecins Sans Frontieres are loath to endorse the notion of health as a bridge for peace. Because, by doing so, it may politicise impartial humanitarian action, and reduce unfettered access to those who need help. But neither has this traditionalist caution stemmed assaults on the humanitarian medical mission.

The political economy of armed conflict suggests that while all wars eventually end, they do so only when one or the other side wins or grinds each other to a halt. Then the balance shifts towards making peace. Therefore, the best we can claim for health interventions in conflict is that they may temporarily defuse violence. That is worth achieving, but could we do more?

Health professionals and the WHO must go beyond counting destroyed hospitals and lamenting lost lives. They must figure out better strategies not just to pick up the broken pieces but to prevent and reduce the brutality of today’s conflicts. Only by doing that can we keep alive the notion of a shared humanity. That is an essential pre-requisite for whenever warring peoples become ready to give peace a chance.

The biog

Hometown: Birchgrove, Sydney Australia
Age: 59
Favourite TV series: Outlander Netflix series
Favourite place in the UAE: Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque / desert / Louvre Abu Dhabi
Favourite book: Father of our Nation: Collected Quotes of Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan
Thing you will miss most about the UAE: My friends and family, Formula 1, having Friday's off, desert adventures, and Arabic culture and people
 

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BIGGEST CYBER SECURITY INCIDENTS IN RECENT TIMES

SolarWinds supply chain attack: Came to light in December 2020 but had taken root for several months, compromising major tech companies, governments and its entities

Microsoft Exchange server exploitation: March 2021; attackers used a vulnerability to steal emails

Kaseya attack: July 2021; ransomware hit perpetrated REvil, resulting in severe downtime for more than 1,000 companies

Log4j breach: December 2021; attackers exploited the Java-written code to inflitrate businesses and governments

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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
  • Priority access to new homes from participating developers
  • Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
  • Flexible payment plans from developers
  • Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
  • DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
ICC Women's T20 World Cup Asia Qualifier 2025, Thailand

UAE fixtures
May 9, v Malaysia
May 10, v Qatar
May 13, v Malaysia
May 15, v Qatar
May 18 and 19, semi-finals
May 20, final

How much do leading UAE’s UK curriculum schools charge for Year 6?
  1. Nord Anglia International School (Dubai) – Dh85,032
  2. Kings School Al Barsha (Dubai) – Dh71,905
  3. Brighton College Abu Dhabi - Dh68,560
  4. Jumeirah English Speaking School (Dubai) – Dh59,728
  5. Gems Wellington International School – Dubai Branch – Dh58,488
  6. The British School Al Khubairat (Abu Dhabi) - Dh54,170
  7. Dubai English Speaking School – Dh51,269

*Annual tuition fees covering the 2024/2025 academic year

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets

Freezer tips

  • Always make sure food is completely cool before freezing.
  • If you’re cooking in large batches, divide into either family-sized or individual portions to freeze.
  • Ensure the food is well wrapped in foil or cling film. Even better, store in fully sealable, labelled containers or zip-lock freezer bags.
  • The easiest and safest way to defrost items such as the stews and sauces mentioned is to do so in the fridge for several hours or overnight.
MATCH INFO

Tottenham Hotspur 3 (Son 1', Kane 8' & 16') West Ham United 3 (Balbuena 82', Sanchez og 85', Lanzini 90' 4)

Man of the match Harry Kane

The specs

Engine: four-litre V6 and 3.5-litre V6 twin-turbo

Transmission: six-speed and 10-speed

Power: 271 and 409 horsepower

Torque: 385 and 650Nm

Price: from Dh229,900 to Dh355,000

At a glance

Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.

 

Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year

 

Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month

 

Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30 

 

Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse

 

Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth

 

Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances

Gothia Cup 2025

4,872 matches 

1,942 teams

116 pitches

76 nations

26 UAE teams

15 Lebanese teams

2 Kuwaiti teams

Our family matters legal consultant

Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais

Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.

The lowdown

Rating: 4/5

Key facilities
  • Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
  • Premier League-standard football pitch
  • 400m Olympic running track
  • NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
  • 600-seat auditorium
  • Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
  • An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
  • Specialist robotics and science laboratories
  • AR and VR-enabled learning centres
  • Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
F1 The Movie

Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem

Director: Joseph Kosinski

Rating: 4/5

The years Ramadan fell in May

1987

1954

1921

1888

Lexus LX700h specs

Engine: 3.4-litre twin-turbo V6 plus supplementary electric motor

Power: 464hp at 5,200rpm

Torque: 790Nm from 2,000-3,600rpm

Transmission: 10-speed auto

Fuel consumption: 11.7L/100km

On sale: Now

Price: From Dh590,000

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The specs

Engine: 2.3-litre, turbo four-cylinder

Transmission: 10-speed auto

Power: 300hp

Torque: 420Nm

Price: Dh189,900

On sale: now

Tearful appearance

Chancellor Rachel Reeves set markets on edge as she appeared visibly distraught in parliament on Wednesday. 

Legislative setbacks for the government have blown a new hole in the budgetary calculations at a time when the deficit is stubbornly large and the economy is struggling to grow. 

She appeared with Keir Starmer on Thursday and the pair embraced, but he had failed to give her his backing as she cried a day earlier.

A spokesman said her upset demeanour was due to a personal matter.

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

MATCH INFO

Liverpool v Manchester City, Sunday, 8.30pm UAE

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SPEC%20SHEET%3A%20NOTHING%20PHONE%20(2)
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The specs
  • Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
  • Power: 640hp
  • Torque: 760nm
  • On sale: 2026
  • Price: Not announced yet
if you go

The flights

Air Astana flies direct from Dubai to Almaty from Dh2,440 per person return, and to Astana (via Almaty) from Dh2,930 return, both including taxes. 

The hotels

Rooms at the Ritz-Carlton Almaty cost from Dh1,944 per night including taxes; and in Astana the new Ritz-Carlton Astana (www.marriott) costs from Dh1,325; alternatively, the new St Regis Astana costs from Dh1,458 per night including taxes. 

When to visit

March-May and September-November

Visas

Citizens of many countries, including the UAE do not need a visa to enter Kazakhstan for up to 30 days. Contact the nearest Kazakhstan embassy or consulate.

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
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions

Updated: June 24, 2022, 6:00 PM`