# Health issues in Dubai



## currently_indian (Feb 24, 2013)

I am almost making up my mind to move out of India for better quality of life and have been evaluating Dubai seriously. Have met few people who stayed in Dubai and sought there inputs and also planning to visit Dubai next month. One of the reasons of moving out is heavy persistent air pollution in New Delhi most of the year. My 4 year old little daughter is sensitive to it and shows signs of allergic rhinitis whenever air gets more smoggy and this is one of the reasons I am choosing to move out. But just came across on internet that 1 in every 5 children is asthmatic in UAE and allergic rhinitis is prevalant due to pollen and sand in air due to excessive construction activities. I am wondering if the real situation is as bad as mentioned in report. India is getting worse and worse in terms of Air Pollution and even the new Govt doesn't care about it. I am convinced moving out of India is the only solution but do not wish to go to a place which makes matters worse. Any inputs will be appreciated.


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## A.Abbass (Jun 28, 2014)

The air quality score in India is around 23 ranked 174 worldwide.

The air quality score of UAE is around 86 ranked 65 worldwide.

Apparently there's a huge difference, there are plenty of air pollution scores and reports online you can google them.


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## BedouGirl (Sep 15, 2011)

What happened to me was my allergies went for the first six months then they came back. The doctor said it was quite common because what affected me in the UK wasn't here and then because I was prone to allergies, my body just found other (similar) things to be allergic to . More than half your year here is spent living in AC. If the units, which aren't all under your control of course, are not maintained properly, then that will definitely cause issues. You're also living in a transient environment where people travel and bring back bugs that spread. Every time the 'season' changes, everyone comes down with colds and flus and they seem to spread like wildfire. One of my close friends is a GP and she's had sinusitis for more than two months now. She can't shake it off and she said, in all her years as a doctor, she never experienced anything like this. I think it's something you just learn to live/deal with, wherever you are, unfortunately.


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## currently_indian (Feb 24, 2013)

BedouGirl said:


> What happened to me was my allergies went for the first six months then they came back. The doctor said it was quite common because what affected me in the UK wasn't here and then because I was prone to allergies, my body just found other (similar) things to be allergic to . More than half your year here is spent living in AC. If the units, which aren't all under your control of course, are not maintained properly, then that will definitely cause issues. You're also living in a transient environment where people travel and bring back bugs that spread. Every time the 'season' changes, everyone comes down with colds and flus and they seem to spread like wildfire. One of my close friends is a GP and she's had sinusitis for more than two months now. She can't shake it off and she said, in all her years as a doctor, she never experienced anything like this. I think it's something you just learn to live/deal with, wherever you are, unfortunately.


That's understandable and there could be one-off individual cases across the world which are unpredictable but when you read reports which say 40% of children suffer from allergic rhinitis, that sounds alarming !

How good is the air that you breathe?

If that is indeed true, I guess most of the people would already be aware of this. Need to know the ground reality and that was the purpose of my post.


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## Rbj*Rbj (Jul 23, 2014)

1 in 5 is 20%, not 40% currently_indian


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## twowheelsgood (Feb 21, 2013)

I doubt anything like 1 in 5 in Dubai are asthmatic.

Dust is a very localised issue - you only have to drive all around and you realise how little visible stuff there is - unless you are right next to a construction site or near an industrial area. 

I do agree that there is sand in the air - you only have to look at cars left standing for a few days, but we are living in a desert environment and for three months of the year everyone lives off filtered aircon air, travels in aircon cars and so I personally think the dust thing is over exaggerated.


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## currently_indian (Feb 24, 2013)

Rbj*Rbj said:


> 1 in 5 is 20%, not 40% currently_indian


Thanks for the response. The scary report says 1 in 5 (20%) kids are asthmatic and nearly 40% suffer from Allergic rhinitis.


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## BigAndyD (Apr 19, 2013)

The air quality in Dubai will only get worse as the city continues to expand without sufficient environmental regulation and control. There are very few days in the year where there is not a clearly visible layer of dust and pollution hanging over the place. But as you say, it is nothing like the levels of pollution in India.
As for the report, I wouldn't be surprised if the problem didn't have as much to do with the country's obesity problem and generally unhealthy lifestyle as pollution.


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## currently_indian (Feb 24, 2013)

BigAndyD said:


> The air quality in Dubai will only get worse as the city continues to expand without sufficient environmental regulation and control. There are very few days in the year where there is not a clearly visible layer of dust and pollution hanging over the place. But as you say, it is nothing like the levels of pollution in India.
> As for the report, I wouldn't be surprised if the problem didn't have as much to do with the country's obesity problem and generally unhealthy lifestyle as pollution.


Thanks for responding. That's a good piece of info. I plan to visit Dubai next month to get an idea of the place. Don't know anyone there, so I guess most of the doubts would still be unanswered despite the visit. As an expat, how do you compare the quality of healthcare in UAE as compared to other places like UK ? I would include quality of physicians and their accessibility, quality of hospitals, how quick does the system responds to medical emergencies, etc etc.


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## BedouGirl (Sep 15, 2011)

currently_indian said:


> Thanks for responding. That's a good piece of info. I plan to visit Dubai next month to get an idea of the place. Don't know anyone there, so I guess most of the doubts would still be unanswered despite the visit. As an expat, how do you compare the quality of healthcare in UAE as compared to other places like UK ? I would include quality of physicians and their accessibility, quality of hospitals, how quick does the system responds to medical emergencies, etc etc.


This is more about the quality of your medical insurance cover. There are good and bad and indifferent. Same as anywhere in the world. But the important factor to remember is that, on the whole, medical services here are about business. Most doctors earn commission from what they prescribe.


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## twowheelsgood (Feb 21, 2013)

And of course, if a Doctor is no good for you, take your business elsewhere. 

Something you cannot do as the Doctors cartel in the UK 'encourages' doctors not to criticise each other's work.


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## twowheelsgood (Feb 21, 2013)

BigAndyD said:


> The air quality in Dubai will only get worse as the city continues to expand without sufficient environmental regulation and control. There are very few days in the year where there is not a clearly visible layer of dust and pollution hanging over the place.


So are you going to instruct the desert to stop being dusty then?

Seriously, we live in a desert environment. There is nothing you can do about the. If you drive out to Bab Al Shams, on road a few miles outside Arabian Ranches you find roads which have to have dunes pushed back every week. People think they are in the middle of a big city when they are on the edge of a desert all the time. 

You get dust in a desert and people just have to live with it and the consequences.


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## cremonesini (Nov 10, 2014)

I'm a childrens doctor and manage asthma. I don't think it's any worse then many countries but medical care is very variable here. The thing about asthma is take your treatment every day, properly and have an asthma plan. In UK, we have some of highest rates of death in Europe and asthma bigger problem there. Shop around for good doctor but look at asthma UK website and educate yourself as much as possible so u can check advice you are given is right one! Everyone has a nebuliser here but you don't need one, in UK almost no one has one for asthma.


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