UAE: Before cancer struck, an Emirati woman, participating in the UAE’s genome project, who had a predisposition to develop the disease was able to pre-emptively address it. Doctors noticed a gene mutation in her report, said officials of healthcare group M42 on Tuesday, the second day of Arab Health.
“She was developing a specific thyroid cancer due to her gene mutating into a cancerous one,” said Hasan Jasem Al Nowais, managing director and group CEO of M42, and chairman of Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi. “After we saw her report, we enrolled her into our network for precision care where we identified the gene, and the oncologist confirmed that this gene is mutating to develop thyroid cancer. She did not have cancer, but we knew she was going to develop it, so we resected her thyroid.”
Preventive medicine and precision care will re-define the future of healthcare in the UAE, he said.
“We run one of the largest genome programmes in the world with almost 800,000 genomic signals a day,” he said. “On the back of this information, we will be delivering precision medicine. We already launched the pharmacogenomics reports, where a patient will know which drug can address the disease.”
M42 has also introduced, together with DOH, a pre-medical health screening that involves giving questionnaires to patients prior to meeting the doctor. As they wait, they can answer questions that cover various topics including their sleep and wellness, according to Dr Laila Abdel Wareth, CEO of diagnostics at M42. Based on these answers, AI then predicts potential medical issues that the patient could develop in future.
M42, which was established in 2022 by merging G42 Healthcare and Mubadala Health, has more than 480 facilities in 26 countries and over 20,000 employees.
Reduced cost
Dialysis centres in M42 facilities are equipped with an AI thrombosis prediction model that reduces cost for both the patient and the hospital, Dimitris Moulavasilis, global patient care CEO of M42, said.
“It ensures a better quality of life for the patient, increased longevity and avoids unnecessary hospitalisations,” he said.
His comments came as Diaverum, a global leader renal care acquired by M42 in 2023, announced plans to start operations in Abu Dhabi and Al Ain, bringing better care to renal patients in the UAE.
Another model produced in the UAE “can screen x-rays and identify positive tuberculosis cases so we can be much more efficient, which supports our specialists to deliver care with less cost,” Dimitris added.
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