KUWAIT CITY, Dec 4: Plans are under way to set up an independent national health authority in Kuwait which will steer efforts to transform healthcare in the country, according to the Assistant Undersecretary for Planning and Quality in the Ministry of Health. Waleed Kh. Al-Falah told the global publishing, research and consultancy firm Oxford Business Group (OBG) that the Kuwait Health Authority will play a key role in overseeing major reforms earmarked for healthcare while also taking over some administrative functions from the Ministry. “We aim to develop a comprehensive health system in line with global trends,” he said. “Attention to health promotion and focusing on improving primary health care as a first point of entrance to the system is the most in-demand effective priority in the country.”
The move forms part of Kuwait’s broader plan to upgrade the quality of healthcare under the National Development Plan. It is also expected to bolster the country’s efforts to encourage public, private partnerships for health services expansion which include modernising existing facilities and building new hospitals and health centres. The interview forms part of the research for The Report: Kuwait 2012, OBG’s forthcoming guide on the State’s economic activity and investment opportunities. The Group’s latest report will include a detailed, sector-by-sector guide for foreign investors, together with a wide range of interviews with the most prominent political, economic and business leaders.
Al-Falah highlighted the Ministry’s success in increasing the number of Kuwaiti doctors working in the country, adding that plans were under way to drive forward a similar initiative in the nursing profession. “At present, there is a concentrated effort to increase the percentage of the national nursing workforce,” he said. “Incentives and opportunities are being introduced offering higher training and post graduate degrees in Western countries which are well known for their excellent training in the field of nursing.” He acknowledged that Kuwait could prove to be fertile territory for health tourism which was expanding rapidly on a global level, but said legal reforms would be needed before the country could begin exploring its potential. “Kuwait has great potential for attracting patients from neighbouring countries,” he said. “At present, however, the public sector cannot sell its services to individuals or private corporations. A review of current legislations would be needed to allow this.”
The Report: Kuwait 2012 will mark the culmination of more than nine months of on-the-ground research by a team of analysts from OBG. It will provide information on opportunities for foreign direct investment into the country’s economy and will act as a guide to the many facets of the country including its macroeconomics, infrastructure, banking and sectoral developments. The Report: Kuwait 2012 will be available in print form or online. Oxford Business Group (OBG) is a global publishing, research and consultancy firm, which publishes economic intelligence on the markets of the Middle East, Africa, Asia and Latin America Through its range of print and online products, OBG offers comprehensive and accurate analysis of macroeconomic and sectoral developments, including banking, capital markets, insurance, energy, transport, industry and telecoms.
The Report: Kuwait 2012 is produced in partnership with the Kuwait Foreign Investment Bureau, KAMCO, ASAR and Moore Stephens. The critically acclaimed economic and business reports have become the leading source of business intelligence on developing countries in the regions they cover. OBG’s online economic briefings provide up-to-date in-depth analysis on the issues that matter for tens of thousands of subscribers worldwide. OBG’s consultancy arm offers tailor-made market intelligence and advice to firms currently operating in these markets and those looking to enter them.
Source: Arab Times
Monday, December 5, 2011
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
Can women deliver safely at home? Results of British study about the place of the birth
British Study: Half Of All Pregnant Women Could Give Birth At Home Safely
AP | Nov 25, 2011 12:09 PM EST
Comments (28)
LONDON -- A new study in England shows little difference in complications among the babies of women with low-risk pregnancies who delivered in hospitals versus those who gave birth with midwives at home or in birthing centers.
Based on the findings, researchers said women with uncomplicated pregnancies in England should be able to choose where they want to give birth – and one expert said about half of all pregnant women here could potentially safely give birth outside a hospital.
But they sounded a note of caution for first-time mothers and their infants, who may face a higher risk if they choose a home birth.
"I would never say women should give birth in a particular place, but hope this gives women more information to make an informed choice," said Dr. Peter Brocklehurst, director of the Institute for Women's Health at University College Hospital in London, one of the paper's lead authors. He conducted the research while at Oxford University.
"Birth isn't an abnormal process, it's a physiological process," he said. "And if your pregnancy and labor is not complicated, then you don't need a high level of specific expertise."
Brocklehurst added that about 50 percent of pregnant women in England – those who are low-risk – should be able to choose where to have their baby.
More than 90 percent of pregnant women in England now give birth in a hospital. Some officials say the new study should prompt women to consider alternatives.
"This is about giving women a choice," said Mary Newburn of NCT, a U.K. charity for parents, one of the study's authors. She said midwife-run birth centers in England have a more homelike environment, with privacy, sofas and birthing pools.
In Britain, midwives deliver more than 60 percent of babies already. Similar care is provided in the Netherlands, where about a quarter of all births happen at home. Elsewhere in Europe, most births are led by doctors, although midwives may also be involved.
In the United States, however, less than one percent of births happen at home. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists does not support planned home births and warns evidence shows they have a higher risk of newborn death compared to planned hospital births. The training of midwives in the U.S. varies by state – and some have no regulations.
Brocklehurst and colleagues collected data for nearly 65,000 mothers and babies between 2008 and 2010 in England. Of those, there were 19,706 births in hospital obstetric wards, 16,840 births at home, 11,282 births in "freestanding" midwifery units – independent clinics where there are no doctors or access to anesthetics – and 16,710 births in "alongside" midwifery units, often housed within hospitals.
All the pregnancies were low-risk, meaning the mothers were healthy and carried their baby to term. Women planning C-sections or expecting twins or multiple births were excluded from the study.
In the U.K.'s hospital obstetric wards, most low-risk women don't see a doctor during labor and are only treated by midwives.
There didn't appear to be a difference for the infants' health based on where the mothers planned to give birth.
But researchers found a higher risk for first-time mothers planning a home birth. Among those women, there were 9.3 adverse events per 1,000 births, including babies with brain damage due to labor problems and stillbirth. That compared to 5.3 adverse events per 1,000 births for those planning a hospital birth.
The study was published Friday in the medical journal, BMJ. It was paid for by Britain's department of health and another government health research body.
Dr. Tony Falconer, president of the Royal College of Obstetricians & Gynaecologists, said his group supports "appropriately selected home birth." He noted the higher risk of problems among first-time mothers choosing a home birth and said that raised questions about where they should deliver.
For Emily Shaw of Oxfordshire, northwest of London, giving birth in a hospital wasn't appealing. She wanted home births for both her sons but because her first baby was induced into labor, she had to deliver him in a hospital in October 2008.
Shaw delivered her second son at home in April. "I felt much more comfortable there," she said. "Instead of getting into a car to go to the hospital, the midwives came to me."
"It was nice to have the home comforts during labor," she added, saying she could eat in her own kitchen and use her own bathroom. "And unlike the hospital, they didn't kick out my partner in the middle of the night."
____
AP | Nov 25, 2011 12:09 PM EST
Comments (28)
LONDON -- A new study in England shows little difference in complications among the babies of women with low-risk pregnancies who delivered in hospitals versus those who gave birth with midwives at home or in birthing centers.
Based on the findings, researchers said women with uncomplicated pregnancies in England should be able to choose where they want to give birth – and one expert said about half of all pregnant women here could potentially safely give birth outside a hospital.
But they sounded a note of caution for first-time mothers and their infants, who may face a higher risk if they choose a home birth.
"I would never say women should give birth in a particular place, but hope this gives women more information to make an informed choice," said Dr. Peter Brocklehurst, director of the Institute for Women's Health at University College Hospital in London, one of the paper's lead authors. He conducted the research while at Oxford University.
"Birth isn't an abnormal process, it's a physiological process," he said. "And if your pregnancy and labor is not complicated, then you don't need a high level of specific expertise."
Brocklehurst added that about 50 percent of pregnant women in England – those who are low-risk – should be able to choose where to have their baby.
More than 90 percent of pregnant women in England now give birth in a hospital. Some officials say the new study should prompt women to consider alternatives.
"This is about giving women a choice," said Mary Newburn of NCT, a U.K. charity for parents, one of the study's authors. She said midwife-run birth centers in England have a more homelike environment, with privacy, sofas and birthing pools.
In Britain, midwives deliver more than 60 percent of babies already. Similar care is provided in the Netherlands, where about a quarter of all births happen at home. Elsewhere in Europe, most births are led by doctors, although midwives may also be involved.
In the United States, however, less than one percent of births happen at home. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists does not support planned home births and warns evidence shows they have a higher risk of newborn death compared to planned hospital births. The training of midwives in the U.S. varies by state – and some have no regulations.
Brocklehurst and colleagues collected data for nearly 65,000 mothers and babies between 2008 and 2010 in England. Of those, there were 19,706 births in hospital obstetric wards, 16,840 births at home, 11,282 births in "freestanding" midwifery units – independent clinics where there are no doctors or access to anesthetics – and 16,710 births in "alongside" midwifery units, often housed within hospitals.
All the pregnancies were low-risk, meaning the mothers were healthy and carried their baby to term. Women planning C-sections or expecting twins or multiple births were excluded from the study.
In the U.K.'s hospital obstetric wards, most low-risk women don't see a doctor during labor and are only treated by midwives.
There didn't appear to be a difference for the infants' health based on where the mothers planned to give birth.
But researchers found a higher risk for first-time mothers planning a home birth. Among those women, there were 9.3 adverse events per 1,000 births, including babies with brain damage due to labor problems and stillbirth. That compared to 5.3 adverse events per 1,000 births for those planning a hospital birth.
The study was published Friday in the medical journal, BMJ. It was paid for by Britain's department of health and another government health research body.
Dr. Tony Falconer, president of the Royal College of Obstetricians & Gynaecologists, said his group supports "appropriately selected home birth." He noted the higher risk of problems among first-time mothers choosing a home birth and said that raised questions about where they should deliver.
For Emily Shaw of Oxfordshire, northwest of London, giving birth in a hospital wasn't appealing. She wanted home births for both her sons but because her first baby was induced into labor, she had to deliver him in a hospital in October 2008.
Shaw delivered her second son at home in April. "I felt much more comfortable there," she said. "Instead of getting into a car to go to the hospital, the midwives came to me."
"It was nice to have the home comforts during labor," she added, saying she could eat in her own kitchen and use her own bathroom. "And unlike the hospital, they didn't kick out my partner in the middle of the night."
____
Monday, November 7, 2011
Effect of stress separation later in life
Postnatal Serotonin Type 2 Receptor Blockade Prevents the Emergence of Anxiety Behavior, Dysregulated Stress-Induced Immediate Early Gene Responses, and Specific Transcriptional Changes that Arise Following Early Life Stress
Madhurima Benekareddy, Krishna C. Vadodaria, Amrita R. Nair, Vidita A. Vaidya
Received 11 February 2011; received in revised form 26 July 2011; accepted 11 August 2011. published online 30 September 2011.
Abstract Full Text PDF Images References Supplemental Materials
Background
Early life adverse experience contributes to an enhanced vulnerability for adult psychopathology. Recent evidence indicates that serotonin type 2 (5-HT2) receptor function, implicated in the pathophysiology of mood and anxiety disorders, is significantly enhanced in the maternal separation model of early life stress. We examined whether postnatal 5-HT2 receptor blockade would prevent the consequences of maternal separation on anxiety behavior and dysregulated gene expression.
Methods
Control and maternally separated litters received treatment with the 5-HT2 receptor antagonist, ketanserin, or vehicle during postnatal life and were examined for effects on adult anxiety behavior, adult stress-induced immediate early gene expression responses, and transcriptional changes within the prefrontal cortex during postnatal life and in adulthood.
Results
Treatment with ketanserin during postnatal life blocked the long-lasting effects of maternal separation on anxiety behavior in the open field test and the elevated plus maze. Further, the dysregulated adult stress-induced expression pattern of the immediate early gene, Arc, observed in maternally separated animals was also prevented by postnatal ketanserin treatment. Ketanserin treatment normalized the alterations in the expression of specific genes in the prefrontal cortex of maternally separated animals, including changes in serotonin type 2A receptor messenger RNA expression during postnatal life and in genes associated with G-protein signaling in adulthood.
Conclusions
Postnatal treatment with the 5-HT2 receptor antagonist, ketanserin, blocked specific consequences of maternal separation, including anxiety behavior and dysregulated gene expression in the prefrontal cortex. Our results suggest that enhanced 5-HT2 receptor function may contribute to the emergence of anxiety behavior and perturbed stress responses following early life stress.
Key Words: Activity-regulated cytoskeletal-associated protein (Arc), habituation, immobilization stress, ketanserin, maternal separation, prefrontal cortex
Madhurima Benekareddy, Krishna C. Vadodaria, Amrita R. Nair, Vidita A. Vaidya
Received 11 February 2011; received in revised form 26 July 2011; accepted 11 August 2011. published online 30 September 2011.
Abstract Full Text PDF Images References Supplemental Materials
Background
Early life adverse experience contributes to an enhanced vulnerability for adult psychopathology. Recent evidence indicates that serotonin type 2 (5-HT2) receptor function, implicated in the pathophysiology of mood and anxiety disorders, is significantly enhanced in the maternal separation model of early life stress. We examined whether postnatal 5-HT2 receptor blockade would prevent the consequences of maternal separation on anxiety behavior and dysregulated gene expression.
Methods
Control and maternally separated litters received treatment with the 5-HT2 receptor antagonist, ketanserin, or vehicle during postnatal life and were examined for effects on adult anxiety behavior, adult stress-induced immediate early gene expression responses, and transcriptional changes within the prefrontal cortex during postnatal life and in adulthood.
Results
Treatment with ketanserin during postnatal life blocked the long-lasting effects of maternal separation on anxiety behavior in the open field test and the elevated plus maze. Further, the dysregulated adult stress-induced expression pattern of the immediate early gene, Arc, observed in maternally separated animals was also prevented by postnatal ketanserin treatment. Ketanserin treatment normalized the alterations in the expression of specific genes in the prefrontal cortex of maternally separated animals, including changes in serotonin type 2A receptor messenger RNA expression during postnatal life and in genes associated with G-protein signaling in adulthood.
Conclusions
Postnatal treatment with the 5-HT2 receptor antagonist, ketanserin, blocked specific consequences of maternal separation, including anxiety behavior and dysregulated gene expression in the prefrontal cortex. Our results suggest that enhanced 5-HT2 receptor function may contribute to the emergence of anxiety behavior and perturbed stress responses following early life stress.
Key Words: Activity-regulated cytoskeletal-associated protein (Arc), habituation, immobilization stress, ketanserin, maternal separation, prefrontal cortex
Monday, October 31, 2011
Human development report 2011 by UN
Men Exceed Women – UN
Population Shoots Up
UNITED NATIONS, Oct 27, (KUNA): A UN report issued on Wednesday noted that the Kuwaiti male population exceeds the female population and that the population growth rate in the country is seen increasing at a rate of 2.4 percent in the period 2010-2015.
The report, entitled ‘State of the World Population 2011’, issued by the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) said the Kuwaiti’s population (locals and residents) is now 2.8 million, and that the male population is 1.7 million, whereas the female population is only 1.1 million.
Globally, the report said that with the world population projected to reach 7 billion in five days’ time, actions taken now will decide whether the future will be healthy, sustainable and prosperous, or marked by inequalities, environmental decline and economic setbacks.
The world must seize the opportunity to invest in the health and education of its youth to reap the full benefits of future economic development, or else face a continuation of the sorry state of disparities in which hundreds of millions of people in developing nations lack the most basic ingredients for a decent life, UNFPA Executive Director Babatunde Osotimehin warned in the foreword of the report.
The report noted that the record population size can be viewed in many ways as a success for humanity because it means people are living longer and more children are surviving worldwide. But not everyone has benefited from this achievement or the higher quality of life that this implies.
Great disparities exist among and within countries and in rights and opportunities between men and women, girls and boys, as evidenced by the fact that that 215 million women of child-bearing age in developing countries lack access to voluntary family planning.
“Our work is far from done,” Osotimehin said, suggesting that charting a path now to development that promotes equality rather than exacerbating or reinforcing inequalities is more important than ever. “We must tear down economic, legal and social barriers, to put women and men and boys and girls on an equal footing in all spheres of life.”
Source: Arab Times
Population Shoots Up
UNITED NATIONS, Oct 27, (KUNA): A UN report issued on Wednesday noted that the Kuwaiti male population exceeds the female population and that the population growth rate in the country is seen increasing at a rate of 2.4 percent in the period 2010-2015.
The report, entitled ‘State of the World Population 2011’, issued by the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) said the Kuwaiti’s population (locals and residents) is now 2.8 million, and that the male population is 1.7 million, whereas the female population is only 1.1 million.
Globally, the report said that with the world population projected to reach 7 billion in five days’ time, actions taken now will decide whether the future will be healthy, sustainable and prosperous, or marked by inequalities, environmental decline and economic setbacks.
The world must seize the opportunity to invest in the health and education of its youth to reap the full benefits of future economic development, or else face a continuation of the sorry state of disparities in which hundreds of millions of people in developing nations lack the most basic ingredients for a decent life, UNFPA Executive Director Babatunde Osotimehin warned in the foreword of the report.
The report noted that the record population size can be viewed in many ways as a success for humanity because it means people are living longer and more children are surviving worldwide. But not everyone has benefited from this achievement or the higher quality of life that this implies.
Great disparities exist among and within countries and in rights and opportunities between men and women, girls and boys, as evidenced by the fact that that 215 million women of child-bearing age in developing countries lack access to voluntary family planning.
“Our work is far from done,” Osotimehin said, suggesting that charting a path now to development that promotes equality rather than exacerbating or reinforcing inequalities is more important than ever. “We must tear down economic, legal and social barriers, to put women and men and boys and girls on an equal footing in all spheres of life.”
Source: Arab Times
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Words of wisdom
"Perhaps the greatest gift that women can give their daughters is to take precious care of their own lives—to develop their natural talents and to honor the opportunities that come their way. By so doing, they become vital models for their children as well as full women in their own right."
— Evelyn Bassoff
— Evelyn Bassoff
Saturday, October 22, 2011
Steam cells discovered in breast milk
UWA discovers 'ethical' embryonic-like stem cells in breast milk
Courtney Trenwith October 18, 2011
UWA PhD student Foteini Hassiotou has discovered stem cells can be obtained from breast milk.
Serious and fatal diseases such as pancreatic cancer, Parkinson's disease and diabetes may eventually be treated using stem cells from breast milk following a remarkable discovery at the University of Western Australia.
UWA PhD student Foteini Hassiotou has potentially broken through the greatest hurdle in stem cell research - the ability to ethically obtain stem cells in a non-invasive manner.
Her finding that stem cells from breast milk can be directed to become other body cell types such as bone, fat, liver and brain cells, could reduce the need to use embryonic stem cells and therefore fast-track future therapies.
Courtney Trenwith October 18, 2011
UWA PhD student Foteini Hassiotou has discovered stem cells can be obtained from breast milk.
Serious and fatal diseases such as pancreatic cancer, Parkinson's disease and diabetes may eventually be treated using stem cells from breast milk following a remarkable discovery at the University of Western Australia.
UWA PhD student Foteini Hassiotou has potentially broken through the greatest hurdle in stem cell research - the ability to ethically obtain stem cells in a non-invasive manner.
Her finding that stem cells from breast milk can be directed to become other body cell types such as bone, fat, liver and brain cells, could reduce the need to use embryonic stem cells and therefore fast-track future therapies.
Sunday, October 9, 2011
Words of wisdom
"I can live with doubt and uncertainty and not knowing. I think it's much more interesting to live not knowing than to have answers that might be wrong. [...] I don't feel frightened by not knowing things, by being lost in the mysterious universe without having any purpose."
Richard Feynman, phycist
Richard Feynman, phycist
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)