This week the spotlight is on health and insurance developments in the United Arab Emirates, where the Ministry of Health and Prevention is promising new laws will be issued to stop the unauthorised sale of antibiotics, amidst growing fears that their overuse worldwide could create drug-resistant bacteria. As well as creating a new law, the ministry has stated it will work with local health authorities to more closely supervise and inspect pharmacies across the UAE. There is a particular concern about the estimated 2,400 private pharmacies which operate outside hospital networks, where unauthorised dispensing of prescription drugs is most prevalent. The ministry will also seek to make doctors more aware of the need to prescribe antibiotics only when they needed, and to make sure they give accurate doses and the correct strength.

Elsewhere, the Insurance Authority is preparing a new legal framework to regulate reinsurance activities. Experts in the field have stressed on the importance of intervention by the Authority as a means of setting the necessary standards for the sector. It has been said been said by some that there has been a lack of commitment from some companies to risk management and on the calculation of their percentages.