Lord Darzi, an eminent British surgeon and former Health Minister, will take part in the opening ceremony, give a keynote address to senior surgeons and clinicians, and unveil the first portable home haemodialysis machine designed by a UK company.
Arab Heath 2010, which is being held in Dubai from 25-28 January, is the largest and most prestigious medical trade fair in the Middle East, attended by over 55,000 visitors last year. It presents a platform for UK companies to showcase their world-leading healthcare technologies and highlight how they are transforming the lives of patients and clinicians across the globe.
Lord Darzi said: “The UK medical technology sector has 2,771 companies generating £10.6 billion of turnover. It has a large proportion of the world’s most innovative medical technology SMEs, multinationals and leading R&D centres. It is at the forefront of healthcare innovation, and it gives me great pleasure to be able to promote such innovative technologies and solutions at Arab Health 2010.
“We already have excellent trading relationship with countries across the Middle East, with sustained investment in health delivery reforms leading to demand for the latest technologies and medicines. We are looking forward to developing new trading collaborations in the future.”
Supporting the UK companies at Arab Health is UK Trade & Investment (UKTI), the UK Government’s international business development body. UKTI has a network of life science specialists across the globe and in the last year has helped almost 24,000 companies achieve international success.
Head of Life Sciences at UKTI, Jane Grady, said:
“UK Trade & Investment is at Arab Health to showcase the UK Life Sciences sector. The UK is a world leader in innovation with its supportive regulatory environment, outstanding R&D and academic excellence. Our presence here is increased this year due to additional Government funding and support, which means we are able to do even more to promote UK companies and promote UK innovation and expertise.”
Case studies
Among the innovative products on display at Arab Health 2010 is the first portable home haemodialysis machine, which will be exclusively unveiled by Lord Darzi on the first day of the exhibition. Marketed by Kimal plc the NxStage System One home haemodialysis machine reduces the need for patients to travel to and from hospital-based renal centres to receive ‘End Stage Renal Disease’ treatment. In the Middle East, there are presently over 100,000 patients requiring haemodialysis treatment, including over 1900 in the UAE alone. The NxStage System One will reduce disruption to patients’ normal life, free up hospital beds and medical staff time and also give patient’s the option to dialyse at a convenient time in their own home.
The world’s first surgical ‘cling film’, developed by surgical specialist Tissuemed, will also be on display; a product which is revolutionising surgical procedures worldwide and delivering an unmet surgical need. The pioneering product called TissuePatch prevents the leakage of air, blood or other fluids that traditional stitches may not always contain and is effective within 30 seconds of contact.
Also on display will be the world’s first fully portable video laryngoscope, designed by Aircraft Medical Limited, a specialist in the global anaesthesia and critical care device markets. The device, a patented McGRATH® Series 5, uses a video camera mounted on a rigid CameraStick™ which together with the attached display screen provides access and view of the larynx for intubation, diagnosis, and passage of endotracheal tubes via a nasal or oral route. Being compact, 210g weight and having a cable free design means it can be easily and quickly deployed in any clinical scenario as has been documented in many publications.
Finally UK based Inditherm Medical, will also be introducing their innovative patient warming system to the Middle East. This award winning unique device is clinically proven and helps to reduce the risk of hypothermia, wound infections, and blood loss, as well as encouraging faster recovery times. Using patented flexible carbon polymer technology, Inditherm systems provide unique high thermal transfer characteristics to produce a completely uniform warming effect. Being fully re-useable there is an enormous cost saving over traditional products and combined with the low power consumption, a significant environmental advantage is delivered.