From the Editors: Yet another medical ‘miracle’ at a UAE hospital

YET ANOTHER MEDICAL ‘MIRACLE’ AT A UAE HOSPITAL: In yet another example of cutting-edge medical treatment available in the UAE, a two-year-old girl was flown in from Yemen and successfully operated upon at a hospital in Abu Dhabi to separate three of her vital internal organs – urinary tract, rectum and vagina -- that were fused into one single opening. Doctors at Burjeel Hospital had a challenging task on their hands, given the tender age of the patient and the complexity of her deformity. However, as medical facilities in the UAE have time and again displayed in the past their ability to tide over critical and complex medical issues with aplomb, on this occasion too, an experienced medical team -- led by Dr El Gohary, Dr Shahid Rashid and Dr Hamdy Aboutaleb -- helped ensure a seamless and fool-proof procedure – right from a chromosomal analysis to a colostomy -- thereby allowing little S. Taleb a fresh lease of life. [COMMENT BY: Sanjib Kumar Das, Assistant Editor]

MASKS BACK IN THE US TO FIGHT COVID-19: The masks are back in the US. The top health authority has asked people vaccinated against COVID-19 in high risk parts of the country to resume wearing masks indoors. The move comes after coronavirus infections have risen in the US, mostly due to the Delta variant, which accounts for around 90 per cent of the cases. The latest seven day average of daily cases is more than 56,000, similar to levels last seen in April. The US move is a timely one considering that cases are rising around the world. It has been proved that wearing masks reduce the chances of infection. Till the pandemic is beaten, we should not be in a hurry to remove the one barrier that fights the coronavirus – the mask. [COMMENT BY: Alex Abraham, Senior Associate Editor]

HAS HOLLYWOOD’S PANDEMIC EXPERIMENT FAILED? Disney’s ‘Black Widow’ debacle is fresh in our minds as we stand of the eve of another tentpole being rolled out by the production house. As ‘Jungle Cruise’ opens in UAE cinemas tomorrow, and goes global on Friday with a theatrical and streaming release in the US, industry bosses fear that Disney is in danger of cannibalizing its own profits in an uncertain pandemic experiment. In the US, Marvel’s ‘Black Widow’ dropped 68 per cent at the domestic box office in its second week, which is a rare occurrence for the studio, prompting the wrath of the National Association of Theatre Owners to come down on them, with Imax boss Rich Gelfond telling Deadline that piracy has done the rest making it difficult for cinemas to come back from this.[COMMENT BY: Bindu Rai, Entertainment Editor]