Medgate Today Magazine - April 2023 Middle East & Africa

The Medgate Today journey began about a decade ago. The new millennium had ushered in rapid changes in technology and paradigm shifts in the tackling of International healthcare issues.

It gives me great pleasure to launch this inaugural issue of the Medgate edition for Middle East and the Africa.

The Medgate journey began about a decade ago. The new millennium had ushered in rapid changes in technology and paradigm shifts in the tackling of healthcare issues. But this seemed accompanied with a move towards ‘super specialization’. Also professional schedules seem more and more crowded, and commuting times have gone up. All these are factors that can interfere with holistic appreciation and understanding and general knowledge about allied fields. To fill this vacuum, Medgate was started as a magazine for the medical community in South Asia, principally to disseminate news and information about what was happening in the medical equipment world.

Interaction with stakeholders in healthcare led to broader coverage on our part for news and reviews across the gamut of healthcare activity. Medgate became a handy and inexpensive way for professionals (and for that matter anyone connected with medicine) to keep abreast with connected developments taking place – conceptual and technical.

The needs of South Asia are mirrored across the Middle East and Africa and so many connected with healthcare are curious for relevant news and information. This and future Medgate Middle East & Africa editions aim to address just that.

One of the topics that appear in this edition is that on changes introduced in the UAE Visa regime and its implications for healthcare personnel. What struck one is that of the 10 million people residing in Dubai, barely 3 million are female. Obviously due to large numbers of expats, this also implies that millions of males live in enforced bachelorhood. The easing of restriction means that expats who can afford it can now bring their families to join them. Surely good for morale and mental wellbeing, don’t you think?

We look forward to your feedback about this issue (and for future ones). Appreciation is always good for the morale of the team; suggestions open up fresh perspectives and lead to improvement. It would also be great to know what topics you may be interested in. It may not always be possible to deliver these promptly, but we will try our utmost to do so.

Md. Afzal Kamal Editor-in-Chief Medgate Today Magazine

06-11

MIDDLE EAST & AFRIC A LATEST MEDICAL NEWS FROM AROUND THE REGION

CYCLONE FREDDY DEEPENS HEALTH RISKS IN WORST-HIT COUNTRIES

AFRICA’S TB REDUCTION RATE FALLS SHORT AMID SLOWING GLOBAL PROGRESS

EQUATORIAL GUINEA CONFIRMS

EIGHT MORE MARBURG CASES

TANZANIA CONFIRMS FIRST-EVER OUTBREAK OF MARBURG VIRUS DISEASE

AFRICA BURDENED WITH LARGEST GLOBAL INCREASE OF ORAL DISEASES

THE UAE REAFFIRMS ITS POSITION AS A GLOBAL HEALTHCARE HUB

FOLLOWING AED2.8 BILLION DEALS SECURED AT ARAB HEALTH 2022

ASTRAZENECA PRAISES UAE FOR VACCINATION ROLLOUT AND TESTING STRATEGY

ARAB HEALTH ANTICIPATES 3,000 COMPANIES FROM 70 COUNTRIES FOR ITS NEXT EDITION IN JANUARY

ARAB HEALTH AND MEDLAB MIDDLE EAST

TO INAUGURATE FUTURE HEALTH SUMMIT IN JANUARY

GETTING BACK TO BUSINESS WITH EXHIBITIONS IN DUBAI

ARAB HEALTH AND MEDLAB MIDDLE EAST GENERATED OVER AED 756 MILLION FOR THE DUBAI ECONOMY IN 2020

: Md. Afzal Kamal

Marketing : Md. Rashid Jalil Reena Rathi, Shahnawaz Ali Quadri Copy Editor : Sanjay Mukerji Subscription & : Rita Sharma, Tausif Alam Circulation Creative Designer : Hema Kumari

MIDDLE EAST & AFRICA

Latest medical news from around the region

years. For example, TB deaths in the region fell by 26% between 2015 and 2021, with high-burden TB countries surpassing initial targets to lower TB cases. Accelerating TB elimination progress is crucial. This year World TB Day is being marked today under the theme “Yes, we can end TB” to spur national action to bolster TB prevention and control.

Africa’s TB reduction rate falls short amid slowing global progress

The African region is recording around 4% annual decline rate in tuberculosis (TB) cases. Although the rate is double the global pace, the region risks missing major milestones and targets to end the disease if efforts are not scaled up rapidly. The World Health Organization’s (WHO) End TB Strategy calls for countries to reduce TB deaths by 75% and cases by 50% by 2025 compared with the 2015 levels. To cross the 2025 milestone, the annual pace of reduction should reach 10% per year.

Yet despite the slowing pace towards the 2025 target, the African region has made progress in recent

“African countries have made remarkable progress against TB. The question is no longer about whether we can end TB, but how fast we must act to reduce the disease burden, save lives and maintain a high momentum towards a TB-free world,” said Dr Matshidiso Moeti, WHO Regional Director for Africa.

The End TB Strategy also sets 2030 targets to cut TB deaths by 90% and cases by 80%, for which the annual reduction progress must be accelerated to 17%, and further reductions to realize the 2035 vision of a world free of TB.

African countries have increased the uptake of new WHO-recommended tools and guidance, resulting in early access to TB prevention and care and better outcomes. The proportion of people diagnosed with TB who were initially tested with a rapid diagnostic, for example, increased from 34% in 2020 to 43%

Cyclone

countries

The devastation by Tropical Cyclone Freddy is exposing major health risks in the hardest-hit southern Africa countries where emergency response efforts are being ramped up to provide relief to affected communities.

More than 300 health facilities have been destroyed or flooded in Madagascar, Malawi and Mozambique following the devastation by Cyclone Freddy, leaving communities without adequate access to health services. The cyclone’s devastation has raised public health risks including the increased spread of cholera, malaria, vaccine-preventable diseases, COVID-19, as well as malnutrition.

Freddy deepens health risks in worst-hit

Support for trauma and mental health are also critical. In Malawi and Mozambique the cyclone tore through amid cholera outbreaks. Cholera cases have more than doubled in Mozambique over the past week from 1023 to 2374 as of 20 March. However, Malawi, which is battling its worst-ever cholera outbreak, continued to record a decline, with cases falling to 1424 as of 20 March compared with 1956 the previous week. The widespread flooding and infrastructure damage Malawi has witnessed due to the cyclone risks reversing the recent progress made against cholera.

“With a double landfall in less than a month, the impact of Cyclone Freddy is immense and deepfelt. While we work to understand the full extent of the devastation, our priority is to ensure that affected communities and families receive health assistance for immediate needs as well as to limit the risks of water-borne diseases and other infections spreading,” said Dr Matshidiso Moeti, World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Director for Africa. The extensive destruction, flooding and torrential rains have affected more than 1.4 million people in the three countries and stretched the capacity of health facilities to the limit. Houses, schools, roads and other infrastructure have been destroyed or damaged, and swathes of farmland inundated.

Increased and concerted humanitarian assistance is critical to support the affected populations to cope with the crisis and eventually recover from the disaster. WHO and partner organizations are supporting national authorities in stepping up the cyclone disaster response.

Tanzania confirms first-ever outbreak of Marburg Virus Disease

Tanzania today confirmed its firstever cases of Marburg Virus Disease after laboratory tests were carried out following reports of cases and deaths in the country’s north-west Kagera region.

Tanzania’s National Public Health Laboratory analysed samples to determine the cause of illness after eight people developed symptoms including fever, vomiting, bleeding and renal failure. Five of the eight cases, including a health worker, have died and the remaining three are receiving treatment. A total of 161 contacts have been identified and being monitored.

“The efforts by Tanzania’s health authorities to establish the cause of the disease is a clear indication of the determination to effectively respond to the outbreak. We are working with the government to rapidly scale up control measures to halt the spread of the virus and end the outbreak as soon as possible,” said Dr Matshidiso Moeti, World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Director for Africa.

WHO is supporting the Ministry of Health to deploy an emergency team to Kagera to carry out further epidemiological investigations. The emergency team will focus on

active case finding in the community and local health care facilities to identify more contacts and provide them with appropriate care.

While Tanzania has never previously recorded a Marburg case, it has had to respond to other health emergencies including COVID-19, cholera and dengue within the past three years. A strategic risk assessment conducted by WHO in September 2022 showed that the country is at high to very high risk for infectious diseases outbreaks.

“The lessons learnt, and progress made during other recent outbreaks should stand the country in good stead as it confronts this latest challenge,” said Dr Moeti. “We will continue to work closely with the national health authorities to save lives.”

Marburg virus disease is highly virulent and causes haemorrhagic fever, with a fatality ratio of up to 88%. It is in the same family as the virus that causes Ebola virus disease. Illness caused by Marburg virus begins abruptly, with high fever, severe headache and severe malaise.