ADEN // Overwhelmed by hundreds of sick and wounded people each day, hospitals in the Yemeni city of Aden have been reduced to hospices lacking medicines and space as the country’s bloodshed shows no signs of stopping.
“The world is watching us slowly die,” said Abdullah Gahtan, a lawyer lying on a bed at Aden’s Al Sadaka hospital.
Like many others in the war-ravaged port city, Mr Gahtan is suffering from dengue fever, which is spreading fast across Aden.
The World Health Organization said last month that more than 3,000 dengue cases have been reported in Yemen since March, but that the actual figure could be far higher.
Medical sources in Aden say the mosquito-borne infectious disease has already killed 260 people across the city in recent weeks.
But as rebels and pro-government forces wage fierce battles in Aden, dengue is only one of many diseases that are rapidly spreading across the city due to deteriorating sanitary conditions. Others include malaria and typhoid.
The United Nations has declared its highest level of humanitarian emergency in Yemen, where a Saudi-led Arab coalition – which includes the UAE – has also been bombing rebels since March 26.
Since March, some 3,000 Yemenis have been killed in the war, which has also wounded 14,000 people and displaced more than a million, according to the UN.
The UN says that 21 million people – 80 per cent of Yemen’s population – need immediate help and that close to 13 million people are unable to meet their food needs. Another 15 million people have no health care.
But Aden, Yemen’s second city and the capital of the formerly independent South Yemen, has born the brunt of the war.
The catastrophic situation in the city was highlighted by the recent death of two patients suffering from renal failure at Al Sadaka hospital’s dialysis unit, which was shut down for five days due to a lack of supplies.
“I wish I had died,” said Saud Saleh Qaed between sobs.
Both of the 56-year-old’s legs were amputated after she was hit by a mortar round that crashed near her home in Dar Saad as she ventured out to fetch water. Aden residents and officials accuse the rebels of randomly shelling residential areas of the city with rockets and mortars.
Ms Saleh Qaed was admitted to a facility run by Doctors Without Borders (MSF).
But with little room available, many patients are camped in corridors, some on mattresses on the ground, others slumped on the floor with limbs wrapped in bandages amid children’s cries and screams.
“Many of the patients are unable to go back home because their home has been destroyed or shelled. So that creates an issue when we have to discharge the patients,” said Thierry Goffeau, MSF project coordinator in Aden.
“They don’t know where to go, but we cannot keep them in hospital, so it’s a very difficult situation.”
MSF says it has treated more than 4,000 of the wounded in the seven facilities it runs and has managed to deliver 100 tonnes of supplies, despite the dangers and a blockade imposed by both the Saudi-led coalition and the rebels.
All public hospitals in Aden face similar problems, from drug shortages to power cuts and a lack of space to admit patients.
In Mansura district, the government-run 22 May hospital is only admitting those with serious injuries due to the limited space.
“The hospital refused to take in my wounded brother saying there were not enough beds,” said Adnan Zamki.
After going from one hospital to another, his brother was finally accepted in a Red Cross field hospital.
According to Mouhib Abbad, a member of a local relief grouping, around 5,000 wounded people need treatment abroad.
“Arab coalition states should take care of this,” he said.
The UN Security Council has urged world governments to dig deep in their pockets after only 10 per cent of the latest UN appeal for Yemen – requesting US$1.6 billion (Dh58.8bn) – was raised.
* Agence France-Presse
The specs: 2018 Renault Megane
Price, base / as tested Dh52,900 / Dh59,200
Engine 1.6L in-line four-cylinder
Transmission Continuously variable transmission
Power 115hp @ 5,500rpm
Torque 156Nm @ 4,000rpm
Fuel economy, combined 6.6L / 100km
Europe’s rearming plan
- Suspend strict budget rules to allow member countries to step up defence spending
- Create new "instrument" providing €150 billion of loans to member countries for defence investment
- Use the existing EU budget to direct more funds towards defence-related investment
- Engage the bloc's European Investment Bank to drop limits on lending to defence firms
- Create a savings and investments union to help companies access capital
The Brutalist
Director: Brady Corbet
Stars: Adrien Brody, Felicity Jones, Guy Pearce, Joe Alwyn
Rating: 3.5/5
Family reunited
Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe was born and raised in Tehran and studied English literature before working as a translator in the relief effort for the Japanese International Co-operation Agency in 2003.
She moved to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies before moving to the World Health Organisation as a communications officer.
She came to the UK in 2007 after securing a scholarship at London Metropolitan University to study a master's in communication management and met her future husband through mutual friends a month later.
The couple were married in August 2009 in Winchester and their daughter was born in June 2014.
She was held in her native country a year later.
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbo
Power: 178hp at 5,500rpm
Torque: 280Nm at 1,350-4,200rpm
Transmission: seven-speed dual-clutch auto
Price: from Dh209,000
On sale: now
THE BIO
Favourite book: ‘Purpose Driven Life’ by Rick Warren
Favourite travel destination: Switzerland
Hobbies: Travelling and following motivational speeches and speakers
Favourite place in UAE: Dubai Museum
Analysis
Members of Syria's Alawite minority community face threat in their heartland after one of the deadliest days in country’s recent history. Read more
Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
Company%C2%A0profile
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
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ADCC AFC Women’s Champions League Group A fixtures
October 3: v Wuhan Jiangda Women’s FC
October 6: v Hyundai Steel Red Angels Women’s FC
October 9: v Sabah FA
Company%20Profile
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EName%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20HyveGeo%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%202023%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounders%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Abdulaziz%20bin%20Redha%2C%20Dr%20Samsurin%20Welch%2C%20Eva%20Morales%20and%20Dr%20Harjit%20Singh%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ECambridge%20and%20Dubai%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ENumber%20of%20employees%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%208%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EIndustry%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ESustainability%20%26amp%3B%20Environment%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFunding%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E%24200%2C000%20plus%20undisclosed%20grant%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestors%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EVenture%20capital%20and%20government%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre flat-six
Torque: 450Nm at 6,100rpm
Transmission: 7-speed PDK auto or 6-speed manual
Fuel economy, combined: 13.8L/100km
On sale: Available to order now
A State of Passion
Directors: Carol Mansour and Muna Khalidi
Stars: Dr Ghassan Abu-Sittah
Rating: 4/5
