When Sabina Aidarous decided to become a doctor, her ambition was to work in a public health service, serving everyone in the community equally.
But when she married an Emirati pilot and moved from London to Dubai in 2002, her priorities and understanding of where she could be most useful changed.
She realised that many of the types of care and support which are sometimes taken for granted in other parts of the world were not only lacking but, at times, non-existent in the UAE.
"It was a bit of a culture shock for me," she recalls.
"I came here not knowing what to expect and thinking 'it can't be that different'. When you visit as a tourist everything seems very modern, and everything is available, so I thought health care would be on the same level."
Education and services for women's health, in particular, lag behind other countries. Breast cancer, mental health and sexual health remain taboo topics despite efforts to raise awareness and reduce the stigma attached to them.
As a Muslim female doctor with a child of her own, Sabina, 30, feels she is in a perfect position to make a difference.
"You have to realise that Dubai has changed rapidly, especially in the past 10 to 15 years," she says. "There are very modern facilities here in all areas, but cultures do not change as quickly."
In her role as a family medicine specialist with a strong interest in women's health she has tackled some of the more sensitive topics, such as cervical cancer and menopause, head on.
Despite being so passionate about the public health service and training in Britain with the intention of working in it, Dr Aidarous, who is mother to two-year-old Ayesha, took her first job in Al Zahra private hospital in Sharjah. She now works at the Imperial Healthcare Institute in Dubai Healthcare City.
"I realised it was not about being in the public or private sector, it was about working where you could make the biggest difference.
"After I saw the [health] system I really wanted to change things. I think it is amazing considering how old the country is and it is wrong to compare it to nations that have been around for hundreds of years.
"I choose to think outside the box and I realise that if I am to make a difference, I need to step out of the clinic, be it public or private, and get out into the community.
"I think outreach programmes are the best way forward, especially to make a difference in some of the very remote areas. This is something I'm looking into."
Understanding about health in general, she says, is naturally not the same in the Emirates as it is in other developed countries. Even the basics, such as healthy eating and exercise, are not ingrained in the culture, not because people do not want to be healthy but simply because they don't know how to be.
"Health is not as important to people here as people in the West think it is," she says. "The western expats are always more healthily inclined because we are used to seeing health campaigns about many different topics and it sinks in.
"We know, for example, that smoking next to a child is not a sensible thing to do. But here people do not have that understanding."
Dr Aidarous's first encounters with the British health service were unavoidable. When she was just 18 months old, her mother was diagnosed with lupus - an autoimmune disease that affects many of the body's organs and functions.
She spent much of her childhood visiting her mother in hospitals and clinics. Instead of being afraid, she says, she became inspired,
"Hospitals are so normal for me as I have been seeing them since such a young age, it was a way of life for me," she says. "The National Health Service was under less pressure then but I still think it is an amazing thing. I met some lovely nurses and doctors. The experience changed things for me."
Dr Aidarous insists she did not go into medicine to make money, she genuinely wants to "make a difference".
One of her latest ambitions is to create a national menopause society to raise awareness and boost education about an issue that ultimately "affects half the population".
She is working with other doctors and nurses from across the UAE to get backing and sponsorship for the project.
"I hope it will tell women that it is OK to talk about that because it is going to happen to every single woman. Some women are lucky to get away with the mildest of symptoms, others suffer depression, insomnia and have problems relating to other people. Depression levels can get so bad that a lot of relationships end because of a lack of understanding."
Dr Aidarous thinks there needs to be a dedicated group of people to whom doctors can refer patients, and also a website with comprehensive information on menopause. It should be managed and include women who understand the sensitivities. As well as being a Muslim, Dr Aidarous also wears an abaya and has spent much of her time learning about the different dynamics of religion in Emirati society. She decided to wear the abaya, out of work, only after moving to the UAE. It was a choice, she says, not an obligation. Her husband, Hassan, 34, backs any decision she makes.
Since embracing the culture, she spends much of her personal time with the types of women she feels deserve better health education.
"These are not suppressed women," she insists. "The abaya for example, they wear it because they want to, as do I. We all wear normal clothes at home but choose not to do this outside.
"They want to learn and understand, especially the new generation who are much more willing to talk about health issues. They bring their mothers or their grandmothers to doctors, I just feel the taboo and stigma about certain issues needs to be removed in a culturally sensitive way."
munderwood@thenatioanal.ae
Nayanthara: Beyond The Fairy Tale
Starring: Nayanthara, Vignesh Shivan, Radhika Sarathkumar, Nagarjuna Akkineni
Director: Amith Krishnan
Rating: 3.5/5
A general guide to how active you are:
Less than 5,000 steps - sedentary
5,000 - 9,999 steps - lightly active
10,000 - 12,500 steps - active
12,500 - highly active
Singham Again
Director: Rohit Shetty
Stars: Ajay Devgn, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Ranveer Singh, Akshay Kumar, Tiger Shroff, Deepika Padukone
Rating: 3/5
The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre 6-cyl turbo
Power: 435hp at 5,900rpm
Torque: 520Nm at 1,800-5,500rpm
Transmission: 9-speed auto
Price: from Dh498,542
On sale: now
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
Started: 2020
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Entertainment
Number of staff: 210
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
From Zero
Artist: Linkin Park
Label: Warner Records
Number of tracks: 11
Rating: 4/5
Company%20Profile
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Citadel: Honey Bunny first episode
Directors: Raj & DK
Stars: Varun Dhawan, Samantha Ruth Prabhu, Kashvi Majmundar, Kay Kay Menon
Rating: 4/5
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
MATCH INFO
Schalke 0
Werder Bremen 1 (Bittencourt 32')
Man of the match Leonardo Bittencourt (Werder Bremen)
Living in...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
Ballon d’Or shortlists
Men
Sadio Mane (Senegal/Liverpool), Sergio Aguero (Aregentina/Manchester City), Frenkie de Jong (Netherlans/Barcelona), Hugo Lloris (France/Tottenham), Dusan Tadic (Serbia/Ajax), Kylian Mbappe (France/PSG), Trent Alexander-Arnold (England/Liverpool), Donny van de Beek (Netherlands/Ajax), Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Gabon/Arsenal), Marc-Andre ter Stegen (Germany/Barcelona), Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal/Juventus), Alisson (Brazil/Liverpool), Matthijs de Ligt (Netherlands/Juventus), Karim Benzema (France/Real Madrid), Georginio Wijnaldum (Netherlands/Liverpool), Virgil van Dijk (Netherlands/Liverpool), Bernardo Silva (Portugal/Manchester City), Son Heung-min (South Korea/Tottenham), Robert Lewandowski (Poland/Bayern Munich), Roberto Firmino (Brazil/Liverpool), Lionel Messi (Argentina/Barcelona), Riyad Mahrez (Algeria/Manchester City), Kevin De Bruyne (Belgium/Manchester City), Kalidou Koulibaly (Senegal/Napoli), Antoine Griezmann (France/Barcelona), Mohamed Salah (Egypt/Liverpool), Eden Hazard (BEL/Real Madrid), Marquinhos (Brazil/Paris-SG), Raheem Sterling (Eengland/Manchester City), Joao Félix(Portugal/Atletico Madrid)
Women
Sam Kerr (Austria/Chelsea), Ellen White (England/Manchester City), Nilla Fischer (Sweden/Linkopings), Amandine Henry (France/Lyon), Lucy Bronze(England/Lyon), Alex Morgan (USA/Orlando Pride), Vivianne Miedema (Netherlands/Arsenal), Dzsenifer Marozsan (Germany/Lyon), Pernille Harder (Denmark/Wolfsburg), Sarah Bouhaddi (France/Lyon), Megan Rapinoe (USA/Reign FC), Lieke Martens (Netherlands/Barcelona), Sari van Veenendal (Netherlands/Atletico Madrid), Wendie Renard (France/Lyon), Rose Lavelle(USA/Washington Spirit), Marta (Brazil/Orlando Pride), Ada Hegerberg (Norway/Lyon), Kosovare Asllani (Sweden/CD Tacon), Sofia Jakobsson (Sweden/CD Tacon), Tobin Heath (USA/Portland Thorns)
Match info
Uefa Nations League Group B:
England v Spain, Saturday, 11.45pm (UAE)
Tips for used car buyers
- Choose cars with GCC specifications
- Get a service history for cars less than five years old
- Don’t go cheap on the inspection
- Check for oil leaks
- Do a Google search on the standard problems for your car model
- Do your due diligence. Get a transfer of ownership done at an official RTA centre
- Check the vehicle’s condition. You don’t want to buy a car that’s a good deal but ends up costing you Dh10,000 in repairs every month
- Validate warranty and service contracts with the relevant agency and and make sure they are valid when ownership is transferred
- If you are planning to sell the car soon, buy one with a good resale value. The two most popular cars in the UAE are black or white in colour and other colours are harder to sell
Tarek Kabrit, chief executive of Seez, and Imad Hammad, chief executive and co-founder of CarSwitch.com
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Disclaimer
Director: Alfonso Cuaron
Stars: Cate Blanchett, Kevin Kline, Lesley Manville
Rating: 4/5
About Housecall
Date started: July 2020
Founders: Omar and Humaid Alzaabi
Based: Abu Dhabi
Sector: HealthTech
# of staff: 10
Funding to date: Self-funded
Fast%20X
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A Bad Moms Christmas
Dir: John Lucas and Scott Moore
Starring: Mila Kunis, Kathryn Hahn, Kristen Bell, Susan Sarandon, Christine Baranski, Cheryl Hines
Two stars
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Wicked
Director: Jon M Chu
Stars: Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande, Jonathan Bailey
Electoral College Victory
Trump has so far secured 295 Electoral College votes, according to the Associated Press, exceeding the 270 needed to win. Only Nevada and Arizona remain to be called, and both swing states are leaning Republican. Trump swept all five remaining swing states, North Carolina, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, sealing his path to victory and giving him a strong mandate.
Popular Vote Tally
The count is ongoing, but Trump currently leads with nearly 51 per cent of the popular vote to Harris’s 47.6 per cent. Trump has over 72.2 million votes, while Harris trails with approximately 67.4 million.
Kanguva
Director: Siva
Stars: Suriya, Bobby Deol, Disha Patani, Yogi Babu, Redin Kingsley
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Almnssa
Started: August 2020
Founder: Areej Selmi
Based: Gaza
Sectors: Internet, e-commerce
Investments: Grants/private funding
Company%20Profile
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COMPANY PROFILE
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Total funding: Self funded
65
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West Asia Premiership
Dubai Hurricanes 58-10 Dubai Knights Eagles
Dubai Tigers 5-39 Bahrain
Jebel Ali Dragons 16-56 Abu Dhabi Harlequins
Pakistan Super League
Previous winners
2016 Islamabad United
2017 Peshawar Zalmi
2018 Islamabad United
2019 Quetta Gladiators
Most runs Kamran Akmal – 1,286
Most wickets Wahab Riaz –65
Springtime in a Broken Mirror,
Mario Benedetti, Penguin Modern Classics
Profile
Co-founders of the company: Vilhelm Hedberg and Ravi Bhusari
Launch year: In 2016 ekar launched and signed an agreement with Etihad Airways in Abu Dhabi. In January 2017 ekar launched in Dubai in a partnership with the RTA.
Number of employees: Over 50
Financing stage: Series B currently being finalised
Investors: Series A - Audacia Capital
Sector of operation: Transport
ARM%20IPO%20DETAILS
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2021 World Triathlon Championship Series
May 15: Yokohama, Japan
June 5: Leeds, UK
June 24: Montreal, Canada
July 10: Hamburg, Germany
Aug 17-22: Edmonton, Canada (World Triathlon Championship Final)
Nov 5-6 : Abu Dhabi, UAE
Date TBC: Chengdu, China
