DENTAL TRIBUNE Middle East & Africa Edition Local News 5 New health initiatives for Dubai Representatives of Dubai Healthcare City (DHCC) have announced the launch of new initiatives to address a number of issues in the Middle East’s growing health-care sector. Speaking at a press conference at Arab fessionals further, the Dubai Harvard Foundation for Medical Research is offering a Science Writers and Journalists Fellowship Program in 2009 for the second consecutive year and postdoctoral research fellowships to train scientists and researchers. The foundation is also offering annual grants for two research teams under the Collaborative Research Center Programme. Dr Ayesha added that one of DHCC’s many achievements in the last two years has been the region’s first health-care licensing examination centre, established to help develop and administer comprehensive examinations for health-care professionals. Doctors in Dubai and other countries in the Middle East usually choose to advance their specialist training credentials through the postgraduate examinations of the British Royal Colleges, such as the Membership of the Royal College of Physicians, which is hosted in Dubai, or the Membership of the Royal College of Surgeons. Postgraduate programmes in dentistry are offered by the DHCC’s Boston University Institute for Dental Research and Education. The only private postgraduate dental institute in the Middle East received accreditation by the UAE government last year. Its programmes include endodontics, orthodontics, paediatrics, periodontology, and prosthodontics. DT AD Health, an annual event for the health-care industry in Dubai in the UAE, senior vice-president Dr Ayesha Abdullah said that the DHCC’s programmes in 2009 will include a CME session on diabetes by the Harvard Medical School Dubai Center, as well as a variety of mobile, simulationbased courses for various levels of health-care professionals including dentists. To support the training of regional and local health-care pro- Fizzy Phone: Mobile Runs On Coca-Cola Bulky mobile phone chargers could soon be a thing of the past with handsets running on soft drinks instead Daizi Zheng designed the 'greenphone', which is powered by Coca-Cola, as part of her final university project. The Central Saint Martins graduate came up with the concept for Finnish mobile phone manufacturer Nokia. Ms Zheng said the prototype could run up to four times longer than a traditional lithium ion battery and has the potential to be fully biodegradable. The greenphone's bio battery generates electricity using enzymes to catalyse sugar in the drink. As the battery dies out, only water and oxygen are left behind. Unfortunately, Nokia will not be developing the greenphone prototype further in the near future. Ms Zheng told Sky News: "At the time they wanted something to bring out within the next two years and thought my design was too futuristic." But she added that bio batteries are being developed by large electronics companies and may be on the market in the next five years