Call for research to improve child care

Experts want more focus on the health challenges facing the region’s children.

ABU DHABI // Experts are calling for concerted efforts to improve research and development in paediatrics and foetal medical science in the region.

The call was made during the first day of the International Conference in Foetal Medicine, Paediatrics, Paediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition at the Rosewood Hotel in Abu Dhabi on Thursday.

Dr Abdulrab Hussain, the medical director at King’s College Hospital Clinics in Abu Dhabi, said medical facilities had improved during his professional career, but there was still work to be done.

“I started practising paediatrics in 1973 in the country and what I see now is a dramatic change and improvement.

“But we cannot say that we have reached a point where we want to be. We lack experts who can do research. We need many more human resources in this field,” said the Emirati.

He urged more of his countrymen to become medical professionals.

“Thirty or 40 years ago, we had only one or two Emirati doctors in the country. And now the situation is different. But still we need more. The Government is providing unending support to medical professionals to acquire the highest qualifications. We should avail the opportunity.”

Dr Mahmoud Al Sheyyab, of King Abdullah University Hospital in Jordan, said Gulf countries should cooperate in medical research and development.

“The regional medical wizards should work together to tackle common problems while dealing with health challenges among our children,” said Dr Al Sheyyab, who is a former health minister for Jordan.

He said more research was needed into obesity in children.

“It is not a problem of today. It is a disease of the future too. If we don’t manage the issue now, it will create more problems in the future,” he said.

Dr Al Jawhara Al Kodaibi, a paediatrician from Riyadh Military Hospital in Saudi Arabia, agreed research and education needed to be improved. “We need to work more to research and medical education and such conference can play an important role,” she said

The conference was inaugurated by Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak, Minister of Culture, Youth and Community Development.

In his speech to the conference he said the UAE was leading the way in the region in children’s health medicine.

“I can say without hesitation that in the UAE we are blessed with physicians who are highly motivated, are devoted to their profession and are connected to the latest developments in their fields,” he said.

The three-day conference is expected to be attended by more than 250 medical delegates from more than 10 countries. It was organised by King’s College Hospital in London, in conjunction with its centre in Abu Dhabi.