Press review of the week December 13rd 2010

The New York Times reports on December 9th further declines in women health: “Over all, more women are obese, diabetic and hypertensive than just a few years ago, and more are testing positive for chlamydia, a sexually transmitted disease linked to infertility.” That is what a recent US report pointed out… and reminds us what we wrote in a previous post about fertility in Lebanon.

These chronicle diseases are due to lifestyle modifications. Even if Emirates 24/7 noticed on Saturday December 11 that “life expectancy in the UAE (78.7 years) has continued to grow over the last few years and is remains the highest in the Arab World during 2010, thanks to better quality of life and higher standard of healthcare facilities in the country“, diabetes remains a rising chronicle disease with the highest prevalence in the world.

That’s why risks prevention to rise diabetes awareness among population is essential. Owing to GulfNews (December, 6th), more than half of diabetes patients have kept an eye on their blood sugar levels during the past 10 months. As another article of GulfNews told, a world bus tour opens to increase awareness with free tests for diabetes, with distribution of  awareness brochures and informations.

In ArabNews (December 5th), Saudi Arabia wants to be “a regional hub for world class health care“. But primary care remain a key issue to resorb inequities in care access. In Qatar, the second edition of Qatar’s Primary health care event, Qatar Health, brings in more than 3,000 health practitioners and experts. Health care should start at the basic levels. Changes should focus on quality of service which calls for specific clarity and benchmark for quality: “The public is educated and more awareness is created thorough the anti-smoking clinic, and chest clinic for examining the pulmonary system, respiration and skin allergy, speech therapy clinic, drawing and photography exhibition, first aid workshops, and plastic surgery clinic. Free immunisation against both seasonal influenza and H1N1 influenza is also offered to visitors at the congress and exhibition.” said The Peninsula on Sunday December 12th.

In the Daily Star Lebanon, 22 MP support for bill banning smoking in public considering the alarming figures about tobacco among young and adult population. We hope that smoking ban will be more effective than in Jordan.