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30 people died of drug overdose across UAE in 2013
30 people died of drug overdose across UAE in 2013 Amira Agarib / 26 February 2014 The people who died of overdose, were found to be using different kinds of drugs including heroin, amphetamine and keptagon. About 30 people died due to drug overdose across the UAE in 2013, a Sharjah Public Prosecution official said. This year, he said, already six people have died due to drug overdose, including two this month. Pointing out to the increasing drug use in the country, the official warned that drug traffickers are targeting the youth. Ghanim Ali Al Mansour, Head of Prosecution of Anti-Narcotics at the Sharjah Public Prosecution, said most of the people who died of drug overdose are UAE nationals and aged 30 and above. According to Al Mansour, currently the Sharjah Public Prosecution is investigating the death of two persons, who reportedly died of drug overdose. Aged 44 and 45, these men were UAE nationals and resided in Al Khuzama area. People who died of overdose, he said, were found to be using different kinds of drugs including heroin, amphetamine and keptagon. He said the number of people who have died from drug overdose is considered “high” as the monthly average is over two. “We should face the fact that the number of drug-related cases are on the rise,” he said. Drug-related cases referred to the Sharjah Public Prosecution has increased during the past few years. Majority of the drug users in the UAE, especially Sharjah, use tramadol pills, he said, noting the recent police operation, which led to the seizure of 60,000 tramadol pills. “Drug traffickers distribute these drugs among the youth, who get addicted to them after just trying it out. Tramadol, which is supposed to be used for medical purposes, is being used by the youth — sometimes in double doses — to feel active,” he said. He said the smuggled tramadol pills may have a cover of 100 grams, but the real dosage might actually be 400 grams. “So when a person taken a double dose of the drug, he dies,” he said. The UAE, he said, is among the first countries in the Arab world to have banned tramadol. news@khaleejtimes.com For more news from Khaleej Times, follow us on Facebook at facebook.com/khaleejtimes , and on Twitter at @khaleejtimes Continue reading
Shaikh Mohammed visits Qasr Al Hosn Festival
Shaikh Mohammed visits Qasr Al Hosn Festival (Wam) / 25 February 2014 Vice-President says the festival had brought back recollections of the nation’s past and the sacrifices made by its builders. His Highness Shaikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai; General Shaikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces; and Shaikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of Dubai Executive Council; visited Qasr Al Hosn Festival in Abu Dhabi on Monday. Upon their arrival to the main tent in the festival, the UAE Vice-President and the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi were received by a cheering crowd of citizens who exchanged greetings with them. The Vice-President, accompanied by Shaikhs, toured the facilities and sessions in the festival, where they were briefed on the overall activities of the festival, which aims to revive the memory of the people of the UAE and getting the younger generations acquainted with their forefathers’ heritage and their life style in the era before oil. Shaikh Mohammed said the festival had brought back recollections of the nation’s past and the sacrifices made by its builders. He praised the directives of the President, His Highness Shaikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, and General Shaikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan to highlight this important traditional event. Shaikh Hamdan bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Ruler’s Representative in the Western Region; Shaikh Surour bin Mohammed Al Nahyan, Shaikh Nahyan bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan Charitable and Humanitarian Foundation; Lt.-General Shaikh Saif bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior; Shaikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Presidential Affairs; Shaikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Foreign Minister; Shaikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, Minister of Culture, Youth and Community Development; Shaikh Hamdan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research; Lt.-General Misbah bin Rashid AI Fattan, Director of the Office of the Vice-President; Khalifa Saeed Sulaiman, Director-General of the Department of Protocol and Hospitality in Dubai; a number of Shaikhs, top officials and dignitaries accompanied them. For more news from Khaleej Times, follow us on Facebook at facebook.com/khaleejtimes , and on Twitter at @khaleejtimes Continue reading
Public sector asked to learn from strategies of corporates
Public sector asked to learn from strategies of corporates Afkar Abdullah / 25 February 2014 Experts at the third day of International Government Communication Forum 2014 suggest governments should heed to public opinion. Governments must learn from the communication experiences of the private sector, according to communication experts in a session during the third day of International Government Communication Forum 2014 (IGCF 2014). The experts were of the opinion that while the private sector worked on improving the methods of communication with its audience and strengthening these to optimise efficiency, the public sector in general and governments in particular relied on unilateral messaging, targeting audiences without heeding to public opinion or citizen feedback. The session explored how best practices from the private sector’s rich experience in communicating with its stakeholders can be drawn upon to develop the nascent public sector’s communication experience. The session also highlighted the media’s perception of the difference between the communication strategies adopted by the public and private sectors. The interactive session was steered by Bill Daley, former White House chief of staff and commerce secretary under Bill Clinton, Bryan Dumont, president of APCO Insight, who is an expert in providing opinion research, Marwan Zawaydeh, chief corporate governance officer at Etisalat, and NartBouran, head of Sky News Arabia. Paula Yacoubian from Future TV moderated the session. Explaining how the private sector can help develop the nascent public sector’s communication experience, Daley said: “The public sector needs to become more modern in using the tools of communication and research just as the private sector does. However, governments deal with complicated communication as they have a filter for everything they do. Governments are able to learn about processes and technology but they do not have the same ease as the private sector in communicating their messages. He added: “It has always been important for governments to be transparent. Now with social media, anyone can be a reporter so it is very difficult to build trust. Often, the private sector, when confronted with a problem, has time to find the cause of that problem, whereas governments do not have the time to investigate before communicating. If in such a situation the government miscommunicates, the trust is broken and government credibility stands to be lost.” Underlining what the public sector can learn from the communication experiences of the private sector, Bryan Dumont explained: “Private sector companies know how to build brand and how to measure results of communication. In the changing landscape, private companies are finding it difficult to have one-way communication as they also have multiple stakeholders, so the era of pushing messages is going away. “There is a lot that governments can learn about the techniques of communication from the private sector, such as truly listening to stakeholders and their expectations and the need of corporate positioning to be authentic and in the area of building emotional relationships. Human beings do not respond to communication in a rational way and governments need to have the capacity to evoke the same emotions and champion the interests of its stakeholders. And lastly, all of this has to be measured to know the true impact.” Highlighting how the private sector can contribute to the development of new communication methods for governments, Marwan Zawaydeh said: “The public sector is heading in the right direction and is following the footsteps of the private sector to be closer to the customer via bi-directional communication. To give you an example, a majority of telecommunication companies moved from being government entities to becoming private companies. “The shift demanded these companies to become more customer-oriented for ensuring the continuity of customer satisfaction on one hand, and catering to evolving demands on the other. Towards this process, a strategy had to be created to develop work structures and improve customer feedback mechanisms across all available channels of communication.” NartBouran highlighted the media’s perspective on the relation with governments. He said: “Today, communication is no longer restricted to one party and is more of a dialogue. Our experiences are based on mutual dialogue generated from listening to the public. I see the need to rebuild our systems to adapt to internal communication and handle the sheer amount of data we receive and send every day.” He added: “There are two elements that dominate the relationship between the government and media: transparency and trust, and this depends mainly on the government to provide us with accurate information and data that easily reflect the level of constructive cooperation with the media. In return, the media must respect the privacy of some government sources and maintain the confidentiality of the sources to ensure the continuity of mutual trust and the flow of information and data in a way that serves the interests of both parties and keep the general public informed of what is happening around them.” afkarali@khaleejtimes.com For more news from Khaleej Times, follow us on Facebook at facebook.com/khaleejtimes , and on Twitter at @khaleejtimes Continue reading
