Rashid Hospital (in Arabic: مستشفى راشد) is a 786-bed general medical/surgical hospital in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates, and is a part of the Dubai Health Authority. Built in 1973, it is the city's second oldest hospital, and is located on the Oud Metha Road adjacent to Dubai Creek.The new Trauma Centre at the hospital was completed in mid-2006 after a 7-year period since it was proposed. It can handle 7 ambulances simultaneously.The complex includes a medical library.In July 2006, the DOHMS (now DHA) announced a US$272 million (AED1 billion) plan to build a new 500–700 bed 30,000 m2 hospital within available space in the current complex. The Rashid Hospital deals with some of the heaviest volume of major trauma in the world with on average 3 to 5 cases of severe polytrauma presenting each day.The hospital's Trauma Centre is the busiest in the region, and saw more than 166,000 patients in 2013 and evaluates between 480 and 550 patients on a daily basis. Through the end of 2012, the highest number of patients seen in a single day was 580.In 2013, plans were announced for expansion of Rashid Hospital's Trauma Centre that would add 116 rooms and 160 beds to the facility. The expansion will also add 2 floors to the existing structure. As of January 2015 it was being reported that the target for completion of the expansion May 2015.The Rashid Hospital expansion is only phase 1 of a larger ‘master plan’ that will see AED3 billion spent on 6 new specialized health centres, 2 hotels, and additional villas and apartments for staff, in addition to a mosque, lake and landscaped open space. Furthermore, the main hospital will be rebuilt to consist of three 300-bed towers, bringing total capacity to 900 beds.
A healthy work environment is fundamental to enabling nursing professionals to deliver high-quality patient care, sustain personal well-being, and support the long-term viability of healthcare organizations. Despite its importance, the lack of culturally and linguistically validated instruments hinders accurate assessment of work environments within Arabic-speaking nursing populations. This study aimed to translate and validate the Arabic version of the Quality of Healthy Work Environment (Ar-QHWE) instrument for use among registered nurses. A methodological cross-sectional design was employed. The QHWE instrument underwent forward and backward translation in accordance with WHO guidelines to ensure linguistic and conceptual equivalence. A total of 200 registered nurses from a tertiary care hospital were recruited. Construct validity was examined through confirmatory factor analyses (CFA), while internal consistency was assessed using Cronbach's alpha coefficients. Convergent validity was examined using average variance extracted and Pearson correlation between Ar-QHWE and job satisfaction (JS), perceived quality of care (PQC), and intention to leave (ITL). The Ar-QHWE demonstrated robust psychometric properties. CFA confirmed satisfactory model fit indices (CFI = 0.94, TLI = 0.93, RMSEA = 0.04). Cronbach's alpha coefficients for all subscales ranged from 0.74 to 0.85, indicating high internal consistency. Test-retest reliability, as assessed by ICCs, was also excellent across subscales and for the overall scale. The convergent and discriminant validities were also good, with strong correlations between Ar-QHWE and JS, PQC, and ITL. No major floor or ceiling effects were observed, indicating appropriate score distribution. The Ar-QHWE is a psychometrically sound instrument for evaluating perceptions of a healthy work environment among Arabic-speaking nurses. Its use is recommended for research, policy development, and organizational initiatives aimed at improving workplace quality across Arabic-speaking healthcare systems.
Background: Climate change poses an escalating threat to global brain health and is increasingly linked to stroke incidence, outcomes, and inequities in prevention and treatment. This World Stroke Organization scientific statement summarizes current evidence on the associations between stroke and the environmental variables exacerbated by climate change, with a focus on risk and outcomes. Methods: We systematically identified and reviewed published studies assessing associations between stroke and environmental variables, including extreme temperatures, temperature variability, humidity, barometric pressure, wildfires, dust and sandstorms, and compound weather events. Air pollution, unrelated to wildfire exposure, was excluded, as a subsequent statement will focus on this. Paired reviewers screened titles and abstracts. Full texts were evaluated for study design, sample size, geographic context, and strength of evidence, with attention to impacts on vulnerable populations where data were available. Study type, exposure assignment, and strength of evidence were further confirmed by a team member with Master’s level qualification in epidemiology. Results: Most of the included studies were based on ecological designs. Cold exposure, temperature variability, and extreme thermal events were most consistently associated with increased stroke risk. Although cold effects were generally stronger than heat effects, heat effects have been increasing over time. Increased stroke incidence was also associated with low or varying barometric pressure, rapid humidity shifts, and exposure to wildfire smoke, dust, and sandstorms, particularly among older adults and those in low- and middle-income countries. Compound weather events, such as concurrent heat and humidity extremes, showed additive or synergistic effects on stroke incidence and mortality. Despite heterogeneity in definitions and methods and most evidence supporting associations rather than proving causation, the overall direction of evidence across exposures was positive, coherent, and biologically plausible. Recommendations: Advancing mitigation efforts that reduce greenhouse gas emissions is essential, since limiting further climate change directly decreases the environmental drivers of stroke risk and protects long-term population brain health, along with broader climate-related health risks. Stroke professionals and organizations can meaningfully contribute through local, regional, and global advocacy. Climate-related environmental variables already meaningfully increase stroke risk and exacerbate existing health inequities. To further counter these trends, stroke prevention and care systems should integrate climate risk awareness, patient education, and early-warning mechanisms into clinical practice and health system planning. Priority areas include targeted protection for vulnerable groups, standardized exposure metrics, longitudinal surveillance, systematized education on climate change’s impact on brain health, and expansion of research in underrepresented regions. Strengthening global collaboration and embedding climate resilience into stroke systems of care are critical for reducing both stroke-related morbidity and the wider health impacts of a climate-impacted world. This scientific statement has been reviewed and approved by the WSO Executive.
Neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (NMOSD) is a severe autoimmune disorder affecting the central nervous system, often misdiagnosed as multiple sclerosis. The identification of aquaporin-4–IgG (AQP4-IgG) has improved diagnostic precision and enabled targeted therapies. Given the unique regional challenges in healthcare delivery across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, the Middle East and North Africa Committee for Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis (MENACTRIMS) convened an expert panel to develop evidence-based, region-specific consensus recommendations for diagnosis and management. These guidelines endorse the 2015 International Panel for NMO Diagnosis (IPND) criteria, emphasizing AQP4-IgG testing via cell-based assays. Differential diagnosis should consider multiple sclerosis, myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein antibody-associated disease (MOGAD), and acute disseminated encephalomyelitis (ADEM). For acute treatment: initiate high-dose intravenous methylprednisolone promptly and use plasma exchange early for severe or steroid-refractory attacks. For long-term immunotherapy, monoclonal antibodies (rituximab, inebilizumab, eculizumab, ravulizumab, satralizumab, or tocilizumab) are recommended according to availability and patient factors; conventional immunosuppressants remain alternatives when biologics are inaccessible. Guidance is provided for pediatric patients and for pregnancy and breastfeeding, including planning after ≥ 12 months of disease stability and early postpartum treatment resumption. These MENACTRIMS guidelines aim to improve NMOSD outcomes across the region by promoting accurate diagnosis and timely, effective therapy.
BACKGROUND:Oral and ocular medications are frequently used in the treatment of allergic rhinitis (AR). As part of the update of the Allergic Rhinitis and its Impact on Asthma (ARIA)-EAACI guidelines, this manuscript presents the ARIA-EAACI 2024-2025 recommendations for oral and ocular treatments. METHODS:The ARIA-EAACI 2024-2025 guideline panel issued recommendations following the Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) evidence-to-decision framework. Several sources of evidence were used to inform panel judgements and recommendations, including systematic reviews, mHealth and pharmacovigilance data as well as a survey on costs. RESULTS:Eight guideline questions concerning oral treatments for AR and three questions concerning ocular treatments were addressed. These questions led to the recommendations. Overall, these questions concern the choice between different classes of medication. They also discuss the role of oral antihistamines (OAH), leukotriene receptor antagonists (LTRA), ocular antihistamines (OcAH) and ocular mast cell stabilisers. Four questions had not been previously evaluated in ARIA guidelines, while, for the other four, there was a change in the strength or directionality of the recommendations. Overall, these guidelines recommend using intranasal corticosteroids over OAH and using OAH over LTRA. Moreover, they suggest using OAH over OcAH and suggest being against adding LTRA to OAH. Finally, considerations for choosing between different individual OAHs are presented. CONCLUSION:This ARIA-EAACI 2024-2025 article supports patients, their caregivers and healthcare professionals in choosing oral and ocular treatments for AR. Decisions on treatment should consider the clinical variability of the disease, patients' values and the affordability of medications.
