Conference to address lifestyle diseases

Al Ain: Critical global and local health threats will be discussed at an international conference in Oasis City next week.

Sixty leading experts, scientists and researchers from around the world are expected to attend the Global Health and the UAE: Asia-Middle East Connections conference.

The participants will refine the agenda for scientific research and policy on 21st century global health from a UAE, Middle East, and Asian perspective — explaining priorities for governments, scholars, clinical providers and families worldwide, said a spokesperson of the UAE University (UAEU), the organisers of the conference.

The five-day conference, which is the first of its kind on this scale, is being held in collaboration with Yale University, the University of California, American University of Beirut, the Institute for the Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of Hong Kong, and Unifob Global at the University of Bergen, Norway.

Following a welcome by Shaikh Nahyan Bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research and Chancellor of the UAE University and Higher Colleges of Technology, the keynote address of the conference will be delivered by Sir Richard Feacham, professor of Global Health at the University of California in San Francisco and Berkeley, on "Twenty-first Century Global Health: The Priority Agenda".

Mental health issues

The first day of the conference will focus on lifestyle diseases such as obesity-linked diabetes, stroke, and cancer, and their relationship to food consumption, physical activity and stress, said the spokesperson.

Other topics include mental health issues (depression, anxiety, dementia, post-traumatic stress disorder among others) driven by violence, aging, urbanisation, stress, migration and trafficking.

A full session will cover problems faced by women and children, including infectious disease, infertility and genetic disorders.

Noted UAEU researcher Lihadh Al Gazzali will speak on "Genetic Disorders in the UAE — Magnitude and Prevention Strategies".

Experts will also focus on new infectious diseases such as Sars, avian flu, and now H1N1. They will look into the history, migration, surveillance and control across the Middle East and the world. The prevalence of diabetes throughout the Middle East and Asia, with particular reference to the UAE, will also be a topic of discussion.

Dr Fatma Al Maskari, associate professor of Community Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences at the UAEU, will present her findings on the direct costs associated with diabetes mellitus and its complications.

Professor Hussain Sa'adi, chair of the Department of Internal Medicine at the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences of the UAEU, will discuss the most appropriate screening strategies to try and determine which method is most applicable to the UAE.

"The prevalence of Type II diabetes among Emiratis is one of the highest in the world. Therefore, we are excited to be able to contribute directly to global health care research in this area, particularly when it is also an area that is of great importance to the future health of our society," said Sa'adi.

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