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The UAE’s high ranking on the UN Human Development Index reflects the success of
its efforts to provide a world-class health service for its population. A
sophisticated physical infrastructure of well-equipped hospitals and clinics has
increased capacity from 700 beds in 1971 to over 7000 beds spread across 60
public and private hospitals. Most of the infectious diseases like malaria,
measles and poliomyelitis that were once prevalent in the UAE have been
eradicated while pre-natal and post-natal care is now on a par with the world’s
most developed countries.
In fact, infant mortality and maternal mortality rates have dropped remarkably and, according to the Arab Human Development Report (AHDR), the UAE is one of two countries from the Arab Gulf Cooperation Council (AGCC) that have successfully maintained maternal mortality rate at levels considered low by international standards. The new-born (neonate) mortality rate has been reduced to 5.54 per 1000 and infant mortality to 7.7 per 1000. Maternal mortality rates have dropped to 0.01 for every 100,000 in 2004, mainly because 99 per cent of deliveries in the country take place in hospitals under direct medical supervision.
As a consequence of this high standard of care at all stages of the healthcare system, life expectancy at birth in the UAE, at 78 years, has reached levels similar to those in Europe and North America. The UAE provides a high level of specialised health care at its medical facilities, including open-heart surgery and organ transplantation. Many of the new hospitals, public and private, offer advanced techniques such as ‘keyhole’, or minimally invasive, surgery, and interventional radiology. Up until recently, these procedures were only available abroad.
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