UAE Frontline Heroes Office marks nurses day
On International Nurses Day, observed annually on May 12, the Frontline Heroes Office expressed its pride and deep appreciation for the exceptional role nurses play in supporting public health and fostering sustainable communities.
The Office emphasised that nurses are the beating heart of healthcare systems, and their continuous efforts not only enhance quality of life but also contribute to economic growth by caring for communities and advancing public health.
On this special day, the Frontline Heroes Office reaffirmed its unwavering support for all frontline healthcare professionals, recognising the noble humanitarian mission they carry out each day through patient care, instilling hope, and making a real difference in people's lives.
The Office also praised the vital role of nurses, stating that they form the cornerstone of building a healthy and sustainable future. Supporting and caring for this vital workforce is both a national and moral duty that reflects the highest values of gratitude and recognition.
Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Emirati women have set an inspiring example of dedication and selflessness, taking the lead in the healthcare sector, medical teams, civil defence , scientific research, and humanitarian efforts.
They have also played a crucial role in security and service institutions to ensure the continuity of safe and stable living conditions.
On this special occasion, Frontline Heroes Office honours the sacrifices of all women who have contributed to protecting society and ensuring the safety of its members — whether on the frontlines or in other vital sectors. It also acknowledges their efforts and draws inspiration from their achievements to encourage future generations to continue the journey with confidence and determination.
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Al Etihad
11 hours ago
- Al Etihad
Two Emirati students join advanced research programme at Mayo Clinic
10 June 2025 00:15 HALA AL KHAYAT (ABU DHABI)Reaffirming the UAE's championing of scientific excellence, the Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan Foundation for Humanitarian Work has announced its support for two Emirati female students to join a research training programme at the Mayo Clinic in the move enables Emirati students Moza Al Alili and Hessa Mohammed Saeed Al Mansouri to gain in-depth knowledge and hands-on experience at the Mayo Clinic and enrich the UAE's healthcare system on their programmes are a key pillar of the UAE's strategy to build a new generation of scientists, doctors, and researchers capable of keeping pace with rapid developments in medicine, science, and wise leadership of the UAE has placed educational scholarships at the forefront of its priorities, directing efforts to expand academic partnerships with world-renowned universities and research part of this vision, the Mayo Clinic - ranked among the top research hospitals in the world - has become a favoured destination for Emirati students, offering rare opportunities to engage with advanced applied research and world-class laboratories. Pioneering Research OpportunitiesAs part of the President's Scholarship for Outstanding Physicians, the foundation continues to offer advanced research opportunities for Emirati students at prestigious global institutions such as the Mayo Clinic. The Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan Foundation for Humanitarian Work emphasised that such support lays the foundation for refining national competencies in vital areas like medicine, science, and technology, empowering them to actively contribute to the UAE's research and innovation landscape - aligned with the nation's ambitions for a knowledge-based initiatives, the foundation noted, are not merely investments in individuals, but in the future of the nation. Every scholarship student returns equipped with the power of knowledge, helping to elevate the UAE's standing in the global medical and research arenas. Moza Al Alili: Emirati Researcher Charting Path in GeneticsEmirati student Moza Mohammed Al Alili, a third-year PhD student at the College of Medicine and Health Sciences at UAE University, specialises in Biomedical Sciences. She began her academic journey with a bachelor's degree in Medical Laboratory Science from the Higher Colleges of Technology in Sharjah, graduating with honours. Throughout her studies, she focused closely on genetic disorders related to mitochondrial DNA. After graduation, she worked for three years as a Medical Laboratory Scientist at Khalifa Medical City in Ajman before fully committing to Alili pursued her master's degree in Medical Sciences – Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from the UAE University. Her thesis explored RNA analysis in type 2 diabetes and its relation to bone Al Alili is working on her PhD dissertation, which investigates genetic changes in type 2 diabetes associated with obesity, focusing on how the condition affects bone and the mechanisms of osteocyte (bone cell) communication under disease conditions."My research aims to understand the 'language' of cells through extracellular vesicles - highly specialised communication tools - which could open new doors to more precise and effective treatments," Al Alili Alili is the first PhD student at the UAE University to have her research included in the field of extracellular vesicle extraction, a speciality not yet available at the to a research grant from the Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Foundation for Humanitarian Work, under the President's Scholarship for Distinguished Physicians, Al Alili has been given a unique opportunity to train in the Mayo Clinic began her training in early June, in a programme lasting from three months up to a year, under the supervision of Dr. Naureen Javed, an expert in physiology and biomedical Alili said that this technique helps identify the "language" of cells through biological receptors released in vesicles, aiding in the understanding of healing mechanisms and the development of molecular-level Alili emphasised that her achievements would not have been possible without the strong support of the UAE's wise leadership and national institutions - chief among them the Khalifa Bin Zayed Foundation, which opens doors to world-class research and training opportunities."The UAE gives every citizen the chance to grow and supports highly specialised fields that meet the needs of our era," she adds that her goal is to bring this advanced knowledge back home and contribute to developing treatments that reinforce the UAE's leadership in the health and research sectors. Hessa Al Mansouri: Sustainable Health Solutions Come from the LabA graduate student at the College of Medicine and Health Sciences at UAE University, Hessa Mohammed Al Mansouri, believes that scientific research is not just an academic choice but a vital necessity for advancing medicine in the UAE and achieving local scientific self-sufficiency. Al Mansouri is currently pursuing her postgraduate studies at the UAE University's medical college. She was nominated by the university and the Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Foundation for Humanitarian Work to apply for the Visiting Research Trainee Programme at the Mayo Clinic lab focuses on extracellular vesicles (EVs) released by beta cells, aiming to understand subtle changes in their content and how these impact cellular communication during the progression of both type 1 and type 2 diabetes."This kind of research directly touches the future of healthcare, as it paves the way for discovering biomarkers that aid in more accurate diabetes diagnosis and in using them as targets for genetic or cellular therapy. The research we conduct today may make a difference in the lives of millions of patients in the future," Al Mansouri passion for scientific research began during her undergraduate years, where she realised the importance of deeply understanding the biological mechanisms of chronic diseases-especially diabetes, which remains one of the region's most significant health challenges."The deeper I dive into understanding the disease from a research perspective, the more I'm convinced that sustainable solutions come from the lab, and that a physician-researcher is the one truly capable of changing patients' lives," Al Mansouri sees her experience at the Mayo Clinic as a rare opportunity to acquire advanced research skills in a rigorous scientific environment - skills she hopes to use to help develop local research programmes led by Emirati talent."I aspire to be part of a fully integrated Emirati research ecosystem, one that contributes to innovative treatment solutions for chronic diseases and places the UAE at the forefront of global medical innovation," she completing her experience at Mayo Clinic, Al Mansouri hopes to transfer the knowledge gained back to the UAE by helping establish specialised research centres in diagnostic medicine and gene therapy, and by participating in the development of academic programmes that support a new generation of physician-researchers."In the UAE, we have the will, the resources, and supportive leadership. What we need now, as young people, is to take responsibility for turning these opportunities into scientific achievements that serve humanity," Al Mansouri also expressed her deep gratitude to the UAE's wise leadership for their commitment and care towards students, and their belief in the role of youth in national development by providing them with exceptional educational and research Mansouri extended special thanks to the Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Foundation for Humanitarian Work for its continuous support and pioneering efforts in offering academic, practical, and research development opportunities at prestigious international institutions. She noted that this support is not just a show of trust - it's a true investment in the nation's future and a firm belief in the capabilities of Emirati youth to excel and contribute meaningfully to the development journey. Source: Aletihad - Abu Dhabi
Gulf Today
14 hours ago
- Gulf Today
Study finds lifting school mask fueled COVID deaths
Michael Hiltzik, Tribune News Service Someday we Americans may stop quarreling over our response to the COVID-19 pandemic — lockdown orders, social distancing and so forth — but one category of debate may never become immune to second-guessing. That's the impact of anti-pandemic measures on schools and schoolchildren. According to popular opinion, these were almost entirely mistaken or ineffective. A newly published study from data scientists at Michigan State University knocks one pillar out from under this claim. It finds that the abrupt removal in 2022 of mandates that children wear masks in school contributed to an estimated 21,800 COVID deaths that year — a shocking 9% of the total COVID deaths in the US that year. 'We were surprised by that too,' says Scott A. Imberman, a professor of economics and education policy at Michigan State and a co-author of the paper. On reflection, he says, given the mixing of children and staff in the close quarters of a classroom, 'it's pretty easy to see how COVID could propagate to the wider community.' In February 2022, about 50% of public school children, or more than 20 million pupils, were in districts with mask mandates; then, over a period of six weeks, almost all those districts rescinded their mandates. "You can see how that would create a pretty substantial surge in infections." Most of the surge, Imberman told me, was a "spillover effect" in the communities outside the schools themselves. The Michigan State finding undermines several myths and misrepresentations about COVID spread by the right wing. These include the claim that children are virtually impervious to COVID, which has been refuted by the injury and death toll among children. A related misrepresentation was that children can't pass on the infection to adults. In fact, because many children didn't show symptoms of the infection or had only mild, flu-like symptoms, they functioned almost like an undetected fifth column in spreading the virus to adults. Among those who vociferously promoted these myths is Jay Bhattacharya, the former Stanford medical professor who is now director of the National Institutes of Health, a subagency of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s Department of Health and Human Services. In a July 2022 op-ed originally published in the Orange County Register, for example, Bhattacharya and a co-author asserted that 'COVID-19 is less of a threat to children than accidents or the common flu'; that's debatable, and irrelevant, since those are themselves major threats to child health. The article advocated discontinuing mask-wearing for all children, regardless of their vaccination status. But it was self-refuting, since it also acknowledged that the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated that mask mandates in school had produced 'a roughly 20% reduction in COVID-19 incidence.' The authors also acknowledged that masking in schools could help to shield adults from COVID. But they asked, 'Since when is it ethical to burden children for the benefit of adults?' That was the wrong question. Reducing COVID infections for children was certainly not a "burden" on them, but a sound public health goal. How heavy was that "burden," anyway? Bhattacharya and his co-author posited that "masking is a psychological stressor for children and disrupts learning," and "it is likely that masking exacerbates the chances that a child will experience anxiety and depression." This sounds like guesswork derived from pop psychology, since the authors didn't point to any actual research to validate their conclusions about masking. Nevertheless, they argued that the drawbacks of masking exceeded the benefits. Yet the Michigan State estimate that the removal of mask mandates in the schools contributed to 21,800 deaths in 2022 alone turns the balance of costs and benefits on its head. I asked Health and Human Services for Bhattacharya's response to the study but received no reply. Much of the mythmaking about our pandemic response — indeed, the global pandemic response — is rooted in the absurd conviction that everything we now know about COVID was self-evident from the outset. But COVID was a novel human pathogen. As I wrote in 2022, there was little consensus about how it spread, at what stage of sickness it was most contagious, or who was most susceptible. As a result, most anti-pandemic policies in 2020-22 arose from an excess of caution. Mitigation measures were uncertain, but it did make sense to limit gatherings in small spaces, i.e., classrooms. Many such steps turned out to be effective, including social distancing and, yes, mask-wearing. The subsequent hand-wringing over school closings, accordingly, has the unmistakable smell of hindsight. Not 20/20 hindsight, mind you, but hindsight clouded by ideology, partisan politics and persistent ignorance. For example, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican champion of letting COVID-19 freely rip through his population, crowed that the results "prove that we made the right decision" to keep schools open. Is that so? When Florida reopened its schools in August 2021 and banned remote teaching, child COVID deaths in the state more than doubled. One month into the reopenings, the heightened spread of COVID prompted districts across the state to shut down schools again and impose quarantines affecting thousands of pupils. This is how manifestly deadly decisions get redefined as "the right decision" in the partisan narrative. The Michigan State team documented the speed at which school mask mandates were dropped. The timeline begins in July 2021, when the CDC recommended universal masking in schools to enable a return to in-person instruction rather than fully remote or hybrid classes. The CDC's guidelines, the Michigan State study says, applied to all students whether they were vaccinated or not and all school districts, whatever the levels of COVID infection and transmission within their community. In the fall of 2021, about 65% of all students were subject to a state or local mask mandate. The mask mandates were highly controversial: "Many schools encountered pushback from politicians, parents, and community members" who questioned the efficacy of masking, the study relates. The districts that rejected the mandates tended to be "less urban, less diverse, and more likely to have voted for Trump in the 2020 election." On Feb. 25, 2022, the CDC eliminated its recommendation for universal school masking. Its rationale was that the exceptionally contagious Omicron variant of COVID had passed its peak and thus immunity had increased. But many districts had removed their mandates starting several weeks before the CDC revised its guidance, suggesting that the CDC was following, rather than leading, state and local preferences. The removal of mask mandates ran counter to scientific evidence that masks did indeed reduce the spread of COVID. Indeed, a study from Boston and Chelsea, Mass., found that the removal of mask mandates resulted in an increase of 45 COVID cases per 1,000 students and school staff — nearly 12,000 new cases — over the following four months. But in this particular, as in others related to pandemic policies, politics and ideology trumped the hard evidence, warping the public health response. Bhattacharya's record as an authority on pandemic measures is not encouraging. He was one of the original three authors of the "Great Barrington Declaration," a manifesto for herd immunity published in October 2020. The core of the declaration was opposition to lockdowns. Its solution was what its drafters called "focused protection" — allowing "those who are at minimal risk of death to live their lives normally to build up immunity to the virus through natural infection, while better protecting those who are at highest risk," chiefly seniors. Focused protection, the drafters wrote, would allow society to achieve herd immunity and return to normality in three to six months.
Dubai Eye
15 hours ago
- Dubai Eye
UAE's South Sudan hospital treats 50,000 patients in 3 months
The UAE's Madhol Field Hospital in South Sudan has served 50,000 patients since its inauguration in March, as it continues its mandate to serve Sudanese refugees seeking medical treatment. The hospital in Northern Bahr el Ghazal state is equipped with advanced equipment to provide services to those with complex medical conditions like heart disease and acute respiratory infections. Iman, a widowed 39-year-old Sudanese mother of three, was among those who fully recovered after receiving care at the hospital's intensive care unit. She was initially diagnosed with tuberculosis but the medical team were able to rightly identify it as acute pulmonary embolism and administer her timely treatment. The hospital is the third healthcare facility built by the UAE to provide medical services to Sudanese refugees in neighbouring countries, following the establishment of two field hospitals in Amdjarass and Abéché, Chad. During his speech at the hospital's inauguration, Emirati Minister of State Sheikh Shakhboot bin Nahyan Al Nahyan said the 100-bed hospital would serve the host community. The UAE's initiatives are carried out in close collaboration with the relevant international organisations, focusing on international priority projects such as education and healthcare.
