India releases guidelines on how to avoid monkeypox

India’s Health Ministry has released guidelines on how to avoid contracting monkeypox, a day after the country recorded its eighth case of the viral disease and one death.

People have been advised to use sanitisers, wear masks and gloves, and avoid sharing bed linen and clothes with those who have tested positive for monkeypox.

The ministry urged the public to refrain from stigmatising infected people and called on them to dismiss rumours or fake news about the virus.

It also set up a task force to monitor monkeypox cases, assist in the expansion of diagnostic centres and explore the possibility of vaccine development or sourcing.

Southern Kerala recorded the country's first case of the viral disease in July. The total has since gone up to four, with one death.

India’s capital New Delhi has reported three cases, the latest being a Nigerian man, 35, with no recent history of travel abroad.

A suspected case was also reported in western Rajasthan state after a man, 20, began to exhibit symptoms. He was admitted to a government hospital for treatment and his samples sent to a laboratory.

The Indian Council of Medical Research, the body responsible for the formulation, co-ordination and promotion of biomedical research, has invited organisations and scientists interested in developing a vaccine to submit an “expression of interest”.

“Like … during the time of Covid … our scientists who come forward should be given an isolated virus so that its vaccine can be developed,” Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said.

The government has begun to develop test kits and inoculations, he said.

Monkeypox is a zoonotic disease that originates in wild animals such as rodents and primates, and occasionally jumps to people. It belongs to the same virus family as smallpox, although it is less severe.

According to the World Health Organisation, it is transmitted from one person to another through direct contact with skin lesions, bodily fluids and respiratory droplets.

It is a self-limited disease, with symptoms lasting from two to four weeks. While severe cases can occur, the fatality ratio has hovered between 3 per cent and 6 per cent in recent times.

The viral disease, which was once considered endemic to parts of Africa, has spread around the world in the past few months, with about 20,000 people infected in more than 78 countries, most of them in Europe and North America.

The WHO declared the outbreak a public health emergency of international concern on Saturday.

Mr Mandaviya met Adar Poonawalla, chief executive of the Pune-based Serum Institute of India, to discuss the possibility of a developing a vaccine.

The institute was the first pharmaceutical company in the country to produce Covishield, the Indian version of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine.

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.”