Category: Medical

ABU DHABI, The Corporate Nursing Division at Abu Dhabi Health Services Company (SEHA) has been formally accredited by the American Nursing Credentialing Centre (ANCC) for its excellence as a provider of Nursing Continuous Professional Development (NCPD) activities.

ANCC as a subsidiary of the American Nurses Association (ANA) one of the largest and most prestigious international bodies that grant accreditations in the nursing professional development field.

The certificate of excellence was awarded to the nursing division at SEHA by the ANCC after an in-depth preparation and evaluation process during which the ANCC reviewed SEHA’s policies and procedures to determine the quality and excellence of all its Nursing Continuous Professional Development Activities, in addition to benchmarking SEHA against high-ranking American nursing organisations.

Speaking about the accolade, Dr. Tarek Fathey, SEHA’s Group Chief Executive Officer, said, “We strongly value our nursing staff who are a key pillar of the healthcare system and fundamental to delivering excellent patient care. Every day, they showcase consistent strength and compassion through communicating with patients and their loved ones, as well as displaying quality medical expertise. Receiving this prestigious accreditation from the ANCC is an important recognition that showcases SEHA’s excellence locally and internationally. This would not have been possible without the non-stop dedication and compassion from our nursing team.”

Dr. Fathey also added that SEHA prides itself on continuously training and developing its nursing staff, as well as the future nursing generation in the UAE, so they are fully equipped to perform their practical duties and responsibilities to the highest international standards.

Obtaining this accreditation is in line SEHA’s priorities to equip nurses with the knowledge and skills needed to improve patient care. Aysha Ali Al Mahri, Group Chief Nursing Officer at SEHA, said, “Receiving this prestigious award is an important achievement that enhances nursing excellence and patient outcomes while providing a safe and positive work environment at SEHA. This achievement highlights how important it is to us, at SEHA, to provide continuous development, based on quality and international best practice, particularly for our nursing staff.”

According to Al Mahri, ANCC’s accreditation will significantly raise the level of classification of health services in the UAE and sustainably promote excellence in nursing and healthcare.

Al Mahri also added that nursing staff need to complete a certain number of credited hours to develop their skills and maintain the specialty certification from the ANCC, helping motivate nurses to continue to improve their own professional skills on a regular basis.

Source: Emirates News Agency

ABU DHABI, The Ministry of Health and Prevention (MoHAP) announced that it conducted 203,988 additional COVID-19 tests over the past 24 hours, using state-of-the-art medical testing equipment.

In a statement, the Ministry stressed its aim to continue expanding the scope of testing nationwide to facilitate the early detection of coronavirus cases and carry out the necessary treatment. As part of its intensified testing campaign, MoHAP announced 80 new coronavirus cases, bringing the total number of recorded cases in the UAE to 740,289.

According to the Ministry, the infected individuals are from various nationalities, are in a stable condition, and receiving the necessary care.

MoHAP also announced 1 death due to COVID-19 complications, bringing the total number of deaths in the country to 2,138.

The Ministry expressed its sincere condolences to the family of the deceased and wished COVID-19 patients a speedy and full recovery. It called on all members of the society to cooperate with health authorities, adhere to the instructions and physical distance to ensure the health and safety of all.

MoHAP also noted that an additional 133 individuals had fully recovered from COVID-19, bringing the total number of recoveries to 734,695.

Source: Emirates News Agency

ABU DHABI, The Ministry of Health and Prevention (MoHAP) has announced that 26,375 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine were given in the past 24 hours.

The total number of doses provided up to today stands at 21,300,307 with a rate of vaccine distribution of 215.36 doses per 100 people.

This is in line with the Ministry’s plan to provide the COVID-19 vaccine to all members of society and efforts to reach acquired immunity resulting from the vaccination, which will help reduce the number of cases and control the COVID-19 virus.

Source: Emirates News Agency

ABU DHABI, World Health Organisation’s (WHO) deputy director-general Sowmya Viswanathan had hinted at the fact earlier this year that COVID-19 or SARS-CoV-2 would transform from being a pandemic into an endemic disease, commented the English language daily ‘Gulf Today’.

Other medical experts, especially from Western countries, are talking about it now. As the outbreak of COVID-19 in December 2019 is now racing towards the two-year milestone – there have been many who continue to suspect that it had surfaced as early as November, 2019 in China and that Beijing had made it public in December 2020 when it persisted and the numbers grew – when China and the WHO took note of the outbreak, and though WHO declared it a pandemic only at the end of January 2020, medical researchers and epidemiologists are taking the long-term view.

Call it COVID-19 fatigue. The medical experts however feel that there would be a winter surge, especially in the West, but that in the course of 2022, COVID-19 would settle down as an endemic, seasonal fever. They also feel that the third booster shot of the COVID-19 now being recommended could soon become an annual shot, akin to the flu shot.

The fear is there in the minds of the Western experts that if the flu and COVID-19 were to occur in the winter either this time or from the end of next year onward then the health systems could be under great pressure. It had become evident how frail the health care systems in the rich Western countries have turned out to be at the peak of COVID-19 in 2020 and in the earlier part of this year. The experts are however certain that the reason that the tide of COVID-19 has been pushed back is due to the vaccines that had emerged last December in a record short period of less than a year, and as vaccination had proceeded at a brisk pace, the greater spread of the pandemic had been prevented.

The damage had been immense with the death of five million people worldwide in the last two years, and the resurgence of the second waves in these two years. There has been a surge in COVID-19 despite vaccination in countries like China and Singapore, and in countries like Russia and Romania due to inadequate vaccinations. The surge in the United States has been mainly confined to populations that had resisted vaccination. The doctors and the researchers are now convinced that the Delta variation of COVID-19 has been dealt with.

But they are not sure whether the existing vaccines would be effective if there are further mutations of the coronavirus, and whether this would necessitate changes in the COVID-19 vaccines as is being done now in the case of the flu shots.

This would require constant monitoring of the virus and the constant updating of the vaccines. What is now an indubitable fact is that the coronavirus is here to stay and there cannot be any talk of wiping it out. We must keep pace with its mutations and produce the vaccines as required.

Two issues have slightly receded into the background. First, it is becoming increasingly clear that it is becoming more difficult than ever to trace the origins of COVID-19 unless Chinese authorities share more information. Second, the outbreak of new viruses cannot be ruled out as it had happened in the case of SARS-CoV-1 around 2003 and SARS-CoV-2 in 2019, and that this is the medical challenge of the 21st century as tuberculosis had been in the 19th and early 20th centuries, and polio in later 20th century.

There has been speculation about the emergence of viruses like the corona due to environmental degradation and deforestation. But until clear evidence is established, it will remain a speculative question.

Source: Emirates News Agency

ABU DHABI, The Ministry of Health and Prevention (MoHAP) has announced that 29,589 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine were administered in the past 24 hours.

The total number of doses provided up to today stands at 21,273,932 with a rate of vaccine distribution of 215.10 doses per 100 people.

The vaccination drive is in line with the Ministry’s plan to provide the vaccine to all members of society and acquire immunity, which will help reduce the number of cases and control the spread of the virus.

Source: Emirates News Agency