When money gets too sweet via CIPE Development Blog
With the price of oil at its record highs, it can be hard to imagine that key exporters thereof, six countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, Saudi Arabia, and United Arab Emirates) may currently be facing economic problems of any kind. The signs of prosperity seems to be all around as gleaming towers rise in the middle of the desert and guests arrive by helicopter at the world’s only seven-star hotel, Dubai’s sail-shaped Burj al-Arab. And yet not all is well.
A somewhat unexpected addition to the region’s stunning architecture is a… diabetes center in Abu Dhabi. Nearly one-fifth of the UAE’s native population now suffers from diabetes and the statistics are not much better in the rest of the GCC. A result of more sedentary lifestyle and...