Category: Medical

ABU DHABI, The Department of Health – Abu Dhabi (DoH), the regulator of the healthcare sector in the emirate, kicked off the second edition of the Abu Dhabi Healthcare Quality Summit today in collaboration with the British Medical Journal (BMJ), one of the world’s oldest and most prestigious general medical journals.

The two-day summit is being held under the theme “The Future Is Here”.

The summit is hosting more than 3,000 international speakers, healthcare quality experts and healthcare professionals. They will discuss and present their experiences, views and recommendations on the quality of healthcare services and enhancement to the patient experience.

With the quality of healthcare services a critical topic, the seminars will shed light on value-based quality care, healthcare providers’ wellbeing and patient engagement, in addition to innovation and digital transformation.

During the inauguration, Abdulla bin Mohammed Al Hamed, Chairman of DoH, delivered a speech where he stressed the importance of continuous improvement to healthcare services worldwide. The chairman also spoke about the importance of patient safety and wellbeing as a top priority for all healthcare regulators and ways to enhance clinical outcomes locally.

Al Hamed stated, “With the guidance of our wise leadership, we were able to successfully respond to the COVID-19 pandemic and achieve remarkable milestones in the past two years. The capital topped global rankings in its response to the pandemic and continued to reinforce its position as an incubator for innovation in the healthcare sector, both regionally and internationally. The emirate is committed to delivering high-quality services, treatments, healthcare technologies and innovations. It also aims to increase the efficiency and quality of the healthcare sector and to share the city’s leading experience with our partners from around the world.”

Hind Al Zaabi, Executive Director of Healthcare Facilities Sector at DoH and Acting Director, International Patient Care at the DoH, said, “Abu Dhabi’s Healthcare Quality Summit is an opportunity to exchange knowledge and facilitate dialogue between the world’s leading healthcare regulators and entities. With a focus on the future of healthcare, we look forward to presenting research findings, techniques, methodologies and innovations related to the healthcare sector in the second edition of this summit.”

The summit will touch upon the role of scientific research, innovation and digital transformation in improving the quality of healthcare outputs – elements that have further cemented Abu Dhabi’s position as an innovation hub in healthcare and a leading destination for medical tourism.

Source: Emirates News Agency

ABU DHABI, The Ministry of Health and Prevention (MoHAP) announced that it conducted 212,021 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 73 new coronavirus cases, bringing the total number of recorded cases in the UAE to 740,209.

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

The Ministry added that no COVID-19-related deaths have been recorded in the past 24 hours, with the death toll remained unchanged at 2,137.

MoHAP also noted that an additional 112 individuals had fully recovered from COVID-19, bringing the total number of recoveries to 734,562.

Source: Emirates News Agency

ABU DHABI, The Ministry of Health and Prevention (MoHAP) has announced that 45,094 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine were administered in the past 24 hours.

The total number of doses provided up to today stands at 21,244,343 with a rate of vaccine distribution of 214.80 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

ABU DHABI, Department of Health – Abu Dhabi, the regulator of the healthcare sector in the emirate, in collaboration with Rafed, the UAE’s primary group purchasing organisation (GPO) for the supply chain of essential medical equipment, has announced the procurement of AstraZeneca’s AZD7442 medication. The new medication is specifically designed to prevent severe infection and death in non-vaccinated high-risk patients.

This agreement comes in line with the country’s efforts to combat COVID-19, placing the UAE amongst the first group of countries to receive the antibody medication for immunocompromised patients. It also cements Abu Dhabi as a regional life science hub and comes as part of a series of announcements on new partnerships and agreements.

Abu Dhabi has led an effective human-centred response based on collaboration with leading local and international pharmaceutical companies since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. For AZD7442, the Department of Health – Abu Dhabi has worked on establishing a seamless supply chain process via Rafed, which will facilitate the procurement, storage, and distribution of the AstraZeneca medication through the Rafed Distribution Centre, the region’s largest facility specialised in cold-storage.

The availability of AZD7442 in the local market is a primary solution for the healthcare sector in the fight against COVID-19, ensuring the health and safety of all community members, regardless of their medical condition.

Dr. Jamal Mohammed Alkaabi, Under-Secretary of the Department of Health – Abu Dhabi, commented, “The UAE continues to exhibit unprecedented leadership, with Abu Dhabi at its core, when it comes to a human-centred COVID-19 response. The public-private partnership behind AZD7442, the world’s first long-acting antibody with Phase III data demonstrating benefit in both prophylaxis and treatment of COVID-19, is yet another example of the UAE’s successful pandemic response thus far.”

“When approved, this medication will help immunocompromised patients who could not receive the vaccine due to medical reasons and limiting autoimmune disorders. The UAE will continue to act as a catalyst for change by leveraging collaborations, both regionally and internationally,” Al Kaabi added.

This collaboration between DoH, Rafed and AstraZeneca is another important milestone for healthcare, logistics, and supply chain entities that continue to contribute to the evolution of Abu Dhabi’s medical sector.

Rashed Al Qubaisi, CEO of Rafed, said, “The UAE is demonstrating once again its commitment to safeguarding the health of its citizens and residents by working with leading pharmaceutical manufacturers around the world. AZD7442 brings great hope to patients with various immune disorders that are not able to take the COVID-19 vaccine. Through our strategic logistics partner network, Rafed is establishing an infrastructure to ensure a streamlined distribution across the UAE and potentially the Middle East & Africa.”

Sameh El Fangary, GCC and Pakistan Country President for AstraZeneca, added, “Today’s signing is a landmark both in the UAE and globally as we step up our fight against COVID-19. We are proud to work with the Department of Health – Abu Dhabi and Rafed as they lead the way to procure the world’s first long-acting antibody medication with Phase III data demonstrating benefit in both prophylaxis and treatment of COVID-19, and has the potential to prevent and treat COVID-19 for those who remain at risk despite vaccination.”

El Fangary added, “This signing demonstrates our commitment to bringing innovative medicines to the UAE and the rest of the GCC, to provide patients with better health outcomes now and in the future.”

The signing of the agreement follows a declaration made by DoH and AstraZeneca to collaborate in the areas of innovation, clinical research, real world evidence generation, digital health and the global positioning of Abu Dhabi as a life Science hub.

Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, DoH has implemented various preventive measures and has been at the forefront of adopting innovative medical solutions to enable the community to return to normalcy. As a result of its successful and coordinated pandemic response, Abu Dhabi was ranked as one of the top cities in the world based for its response to COVID-19, according to the London-based analytics consortium, Deep Knowledge Group (DKG).

Source: Emirates News Agency

ABU DHABI, The Ministry of Health and Prevention (MoHAP) announced that it conducted 248,337 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 79 new coronavirus cases, bringing the total number of recorded cases in the UAE to 740,136.

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

The Ministry added that no COVID-19-related deaths have been recorded in the past 24 hours, with the death toll remained unchanged at 2,137.

MoHAP also noted that an additional 102 individuals had fully recovered from COVID-19, bringing the total number of recoveries to 734,450.

Source: Emirates News Agency