title: Population structure and the burden of disease in the United Arab Emirates.
abstract: To carry out their duties more effectively, health care professionals in the UAE often ask about the population structure and the main causes of mortality and morbidity in the country. This paper summarizes what is known about these topics drawing on secondary data sources that are available in the public domain, including census data, population estimates, births and deaths, proportionate mortality, age-standardized mortality rates and disability adjusted life-years. There are inconsistencies and flaws in some of this data which this paper will highlight and attempt to explain. Since 2005, the UAE population has grown substantially owing to high natural growth and high net inward migration and is currently estimated to be about 8.2million. In 2008, injuries, heart disease, neoplasms and cerebrovascular disease accounted for 57% of deaths, and this is well known. Less is reported about the risk of death, disease, injury and disability. The population of the UAE is diverse, and there are variations in mortality and morbidity risk by age-group, sex and nationality. The authors recommend improvements in the timeliness, completeness and consistency of data. They conclude that better data will encourage more analysis which will generate health intelligence leading to health improvement for the UAE population.
authors.affiliation: Department of Community Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, United Arab Emirates University, PO Box 17666, Al Ain, United Arab Emirates. iain_blair@uaeu.ac.ae
authors.forename: Iain
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Blair
authors.forename: Amer Ahmad
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Sharif
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001723:Birth Rate; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D017281:Cost of Illness; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009017:Morbidity; D009026:Mortality; D011153:Population; D011158:Population Growth; D012307:Risk Factors; D012737:Sex Factors; D014479:United Arab Emirates / Q000453:epidemiology; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Burden of disease; Population structure; United Arab Emirates