In an exclusive interview with
Gulf News, Dr Maryam Mohammad Al Matar, founder and chairperson of the UAE Genetic Diseases Association, answered a range of questions of rare diseases and how to identify them:
What is a rare disease?
A rare disease is a health condition that affects a small number of people compared with other prevalent diseases in the general population. To date, 8,000 distinct rare diseases have been documented, of which 80 per cent have a genetic component. Approximately 75 per cent of the population affected by rare diseases are children, 30 per cent of whom die before the age of five.
Coordinated database must to treat rare diseases: Experts
an hour ago
Mariecar Jara-Puyod,
Senior Reporter
The socio-economic impact of rare diseases which regional medical experts claim, affect 2.2 million children of the 2.97 million afflicted in the Middle East, is resolvable by way of a multi-sectoral collaborative approach.
Through a multi-sectoral collaborative approach, it is hoped that a well-organised and coordinated, national to regional constantly updated rare diseases database is achieved, towards the realisation of implementable country to region-wide policies. This calls for the active participation of and cooperation among policy makers, doctors and nurses, educators, non-government organisations, support groups and the pharmaceutical industry. Awareness campaigns as well as continuous research and development for therapeutics and advanced evidence-based scientific remedies are seen as solutions.
Dubai: Individuals with a low immune response against COVID-19 may need a third dose of the vaccination to boost the development of antibodies.
Sheikha Al Mazrouei, head of the Emirates Stem Cells Group, explained recently that some individuals were requested by health authorities to receive a third dose of the COVID-19 vaccine after they were unable to develop a sufficient amount of antibodies against the virus.
In a meeting organised by the Maitha Bint Ahmed Al Nahyan Foundation to raise awareness on the national COVID-19 vaccination campaign, Al Mazrouei clarified that health authorities have already asked a small portion of residents to review their level of antibodies after three weeks of receiving the second dose.