As healthcare systems across Africa, the Middle East and Turkey undergo a fundamental shift towards prevention, self-care is moving from a consumer trend to a strategic pillar of modern healthcare. Rising healthcare costs, changing demographics, growing consumer awareness and increasing pressure on health systems are creating new opportunities for companies that can expand access to trusted, science-based solutions. For Opella, these trends are reshaping both the healthcare landscape and the company’s growth ambitions across the region.

Now in its second year as an independent company, Opella is leveraging its global scale, healthcare expertise and portfolio of more than 100 brands to strengthen its position in the rapidly evolving self-care market. The Africa, Middle East and Turkey region is central to that strategy, offering significant growth potential while presenting a diverse set of market dynamics. From strengthening supply chains and local manufacturing capabilities to investing in health literacy, pharmacist education and digital engagement, Opella is looking beyond product availability to play a broader role in the region’s healthcare ecosystem.

In this interview, Feirouz Ellouze, GM for Africa, the Middle East and Turkey at Opella, discusses the business opportunities emerging from the region’s shift towards preventive healthcare and greater consumer empowerment. She shares her perspective on Opella’s growth strategy, the evolving role of self-care, the importance of local capabilities and partnerships, and the company’s Health³ sustainability agenda. She also outlines her long-term vision for positioning Opella as a leading partner in building more accessible, resilient and sustainable healthcare systems across AMET.

Opella recently celebrated its first year as an independent company. Can you introduce our readers to Opella and what sets it apart?

Opella is a global self-care company with a simple but ambitious mission: to put health in people’s hands by making self-care as simple as it should be. While we became an independent company in 2025, we build on decades of scientific expertise and a globally trusted healthcare heritage. Today, we are the world’s third-largest player in the over-the-counter (OTC) and vitamins, minerals and supplements (VMS) categories, serving around half a billion consumers through a portfolio of more than 100 brands globally.

What truly differentiates Opella is our belief that better health begins by empowering people to take a more active role in managing their everyday wellbeing. As healthcare systems continue to evolve, self-care is becoming an increasingly important part of the solution helping to expand access, support prevention, and build more resilient and sustainable healthcare systems. Everything we do is guided by one clear ambition: to make self-care more accessible to people, wherever they live.

Africa, the Middle East and Turkey are incredibly diverse markets. How important is the region to Opella’s long-term growth strategy?

The Africa, Middle East and Turkey (AMET) zone is strategically important to Opella because it brings together some of the world’s fastest-growing populations, rapidly evolving healthcare systems and a growing demand for accessible, high-quality self-care solutions.

Across the region, governments are making significant investments in prevention, health literacy and more sustainable healthcare systems. These priorities align closely with Opella’s purpose, creating a strong opportunity to expand access to effective self-care solutions while supporting national health priorities and improving long-term health outcomes. Saudi Arabia is an excellent example. The kingdom’s Health Sector Transformation Program under Vision 2030 is placing greater emphasis on prevention, patient empowerment and enhancing healthcare outcomes, creating strong momentum for self-care. Across Africa, meanwhile, growing populations and expanding healthcare access reinforce the importance of resilient local manufacturing and reliable supply chains.

At present, our operations are primarily dedicated to ensuring a reliable and uninterrupted supply of our products to consumers across the region. This commitment is supported by a resilient and agile manufacturing and distribution network designed to meet growing consumer healthcare needs while maintaining the highest standards of quality and compliance.

By partnering with trusted local manufacturing organisations across key markets, we are able to enhance supply security, improve responsiveness to market demand, strengthen business continuity, and create a more efficient and sustainable operating model. At Opella, our role extends beyond supplying products. We work closely with healthcare professionals, distributors, policymakers and other stakeholders across the healthcare ecosystem to improve health literacy, strengthen access to self-care and empower people to make informed decisions about managing their health.

Self-care has become one of the defining trends in modern healthcare. Why do you believe it is becoming increasingly relevant and important in today’s world?

Healthcare systems everywhere are facing similar challenges today; ageing populations, increasing prevalence of chronic diseases, growing consumer expectations, and rising pressure on healthcare resources. Self-care has an important role to play in addressing all these challenges. The market’s growth trend is also indicative of the rising awareness and importance of self-care among consumers. According to Euromonitor data, the global vitamins, minerals, and supplements (VMS) market has reached a value of $39.9bn, while the total global consumer healthcare market is estimated at $337.9bn. The VMS category is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 2.3 per cent during the 2025-2030 period.

We see self-care as empowering people to confidently manage everyday health conditions using trusted, science-based solutions, while ensuring healthcare professionals can dedicate more time to patients with more complex medical needs. Importantly though, self-care is not about replacing healthcare professionals. It is about complementing healthcare systems through greater collaboration between consumers, pharmacists, physicians and healthcare providers.

The wider societal benefits associated with self-care are also becoming increasingly more evident. According to research from the Global Self-Care Federation, there remains up to 50 per cent additional potential for self-care to be unlocked by 2040. Realising this opportunity could save an estimated 13 billion hours of individual time, 2.2 billion hours of physician time each year and generate approximately $144bn in healthcare system savings.[1] These figures demonstrate that self-care is no longer simply a consumer trend, it is becoming a key pillar of sustainable healthcare systems.

Sustainability is another area where Opella has recently made significant progress with the launch of Health³. What does this new strategy represent?

Health³ represents the next evolution of how Opella approaches sustainability. It reflects our belief that healthier people, a healthier planet and a healthier business are fundamentally interconnected. Rather than treating these priorities separately, Health³ recognises that the greatest impact comes from advancing all three together. The launch builds on strong progress already achieved. In 2025, Opella exceeded all its sustainability targets, including achieving 100 per cent renewable electricity across operations, ensuring eligible manufacturing sites became landfill-free, sourcing all paper-based consumer packaging from certified sources, and reaching 238 million people through health awareness and responsible medicine use initiatives.

Looking ahead, our ambitions are even greater. We are currently working towards net-zero emissions by 2050, with science-based targets already validated by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi).

At the same time, we aim to improve health literacy for 50 million people annually and train 200,000 pharmacists by 2030, recognising the vital role pharmacists play in enabling responsible self-care.

Sustainability is not simply an environmental commitment for Opella, it is central to how we create long-term value for patients, consumers, communities and healthcare systems.

As the GM for Africa, Middle East and Turkey, what opportunities excite you most over the coming years?

This region is characterised by extraordinary diversity, but there is one common theme across almost every market: healthcare is becoming increasingly proactive rather than reactive.

Consumers today want greater ownership of their health. At the same time, governments are prioritising prevention and health literacy, while healthcare professionals are increasingly recognising the role self-care can play in improving outcomes. Together, these trends create major opportunities to improve healthcare in meaningful ways.

At Opella, we will continue to invest in innovation, expand access to efficient self-care solutions, and develop local capabilities wherever we operate. We also see considerable opportunity to further strengthen manufacturing, digital engagement and pharmacist education as demand for self-care continues to grow across the region.

Ultimately, our ambition is to help build healthier, more informed and more empowered communities while contributing to stronger and more sustainable healthcare systems.

Looking towards the future, what is your long-term vision for Opella across Africa, the Middle East and Turkey?

Our vision is to establish Opella as the region’s leading partner in advancing self-care. For us, success goes beyond commercial growth. It is measured by our ability to empower people to manage their everyday health with greater confidence, support stronger healthcare systems through prevention and education, and create lasting value for society.

The AMET zone represents tremendous opportunity, and we remain deeply committed to investing in its future. Whether by expanding access to trusted self-care solutions, strengthening local manufacturing capabilities, advancing sustainability through our Health³ strategy, or fostering partnerships across the healthcare ecosystem, our ambition remains the same: to put health in people’s hands, build more resilient healthcare systems, and help create healthier communities for generations to come.

The UAE could see above-average rainfall as the El Niño climate pattern strengthens across the Pacific, although the National Centre of Meteorology (NCM) said the phenomenon does not directly affect the UAE.

The NCM issued the clarification after claims circulated on social media about severe weather impacts, including forecasts of flooding and unusually heavy rainfall in the UAE.

The centre said El Niño’s direct effects are concentrated in the Pacific Ocean, while its influence on the UAE is indirect.

A WAM report cited the NCM as saying that the climate pattern can bring drought to some parts of the world while producing above-average rainfall in others.

For the UAE, that broader pattern could translate into more rainfall than usual, although the actual intensity of rainfall will depend on prevailing weather conditions.

UAE impact remains indirect

The NCM said El Niño is particularly strong this year and can be an indicator of increased rainfall in the UAE. However, heavier rainfall would occur only when other suitable atmospheric and weather conditions are present.

That distinction is important as forecasts and social media reports about the phenomenon continue to circulate. El Niño is a natural climate pattern that develops periodically when sea-surface temperatures in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific become unusually warm.

Those changes can influence atmospheric circulation and, in turn, alter rainfall and temperature patterns in regions far from the Pacific.

The NCM said weather conditions in the UAE remain stable and are being monitored closely.

The centre also said it monitors regional and global weather patterns around the clock and would issue advance announcements through its official channels if a significant weather event were expected. Such announcements would include the relevant reports and warnings, it said.

Global weather risks rise

The UAE clarification comes as international forecasters warn that the current El Niño event is intensifying and could remain in place well into 2027.

A World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) forecast published on September 4 said El Niño is strengthening rapidly and is expected to become “very strong”, with its peak projected around the end of the year.

The WMO put the probability of the phenomenon continuing through February 2027 at close to 100 per cent.

El Niño can contribute to a range of weather extremes around the world, including periods of extreme heat, drought and flooding, depending on the region.

The current event is also developing while global ocean temperatures remain unusually high. WMO data showed that temperatures below the surface of parts of the tropical Pacific were more than 8°C above normal in July and early August.

The warming has also been reflected in the Niño 3.4 index, a key measure used to track El Niño conditions. The index averaged 1.5°C above normal between May and July and reached 2°C in July, while weekly readings later climbed as high as 2.6°C.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres described the development as a major climate concern, saying, “El Niño is being supersized before our eyes.”

NCM urges reliance on official forecasts

While El Niño can influence weather patterns across large parts of the world, the NCM’s message was that its presence alone should not be treated as a forecast of flooding or severe weather in the UAE.

The centre urged members of the public and media organisations to verify weather information before sharing it and to avoid circulating unconfirmed claims.

It said official forecasts and warnings should remain the primary source for information about significant weather developments in the UAE.

For now, the NCM said conditions remain stable, while monitoring continues as the global climate pattern develops.

Indonesian authorities have launched a large-scale search and rescue operation after a passenger ferry capsized in the Java Sea, leaving at least six people dead and 129 others missing in one of the country’s deadliest maritime disasters this year.

According to Reuters, the vessel, Virgo Transport 8, was carrying 243 people, including 213 passengers and 30 crew members, when it encountered severe weather while travelling from Surabaya in East Java to Banjarmasin in South Kalimantan. The ferry lost contact with its operator before capsizing amid waves reaching up to three metres and strong winds.

As of Monday, rescue teams had saved 108 people, while six fatalities had been confirmed. More than 600 personnel, supported by the Indonesian navy, coastguard, 17 vessels, five helicopters and underwater rescue teams, have been deployed to search for survivors despite rough sea conditions that continue to hamper operations.

Indonesia’s Transport Ministry (X account @kemenhub151) is said investigators are working to determine whether the incident was caused by weather, technical failures or human factors. Officials noted that the ferry’s certified capacity exceeded 500 passengers, suggesting overloading was not an immediate factor in the accident, Reuters further stated.

The disaster has once again highlighted longstanding concerns over maritime safety in Indonesia, the world’s largest archipelago with more than 17,000 islands, where ferries serve as a critical transport link for passengers, vehicles and freight. Despite their importance to domestic connectivity and regional commerce, ferry accidents remain relatively common due to inconsistent enforcement of safety regulations and challenging weather conditions.

Families of missing passengers have gathered at ports in South Kalimantan awaiting updates as rescue operations continue. Authorities said the search will remain focused on the area surrounding the vessel’s last known position until all passengers have been accounted for.

Dubai’s Global Village will open its 31st season on October 14 and run until May 2027, the entertainment destination said on Monday.

The new season will operate under the theme “A More Wonderful World” and will introduce new attractions and other additions, with further details to be announced ahead of the opening.

Global Village, part of Dubai Holding Entertainment, combines cultural pavilions, live entertainment, dining, shopping, rides and other attractions.

The destination said it has welcomed more than 100 million guests since opening in 1997.

Global Village season 30: Highlights

Its 30th season featured 30 pavilions representing more than 90 cultures, more than 3,500 shopping outlets and over 250 dining options, according to Global Village.

It also hosted 450 performers across 40,500 shows and offered more than 200 rides and games at its Carnaval attraction.

Season 30 figures are consistent with official Dubai Holding information, which said the previous season featured 30 pavilions representing more than 90 cultures, over 3,500 shopping outlets, more than 250 dining options, more than 40,500 shows and 200 rides, games and attractions.

Global Village’s official website currently lists Season 31 as running from October 2026 to May 2027.

The destination said more information on new and returning attractions for Season 31 would be announced before opening day.

Travel demand across the Middle East proved more resilient 
than headlines suggested during this year’s regional airspace closures, with
 travellers continuing to search for trips even as bookings fell by more than a
 third, online travel marketplace Wego said on Monday.

In its annual
 destination report, drawing on search and booking data through the end of
 August 2026 against the same period a year earlier, Wego said the conflict 
involving Iran that began in late February and the airspace closures that
 followed removed flight capacity at short notice.

Within a week
 of the closures, bookings from the six Gulf countries fell from above their 
2025 average to 63 per cent of it, while searches held steady throughout, the company
 said. Bookings did not recover to 2025 levels until early May, and typical 
peak-summer patterns did not resume until July.

Wego report highlights

“When airspace
 closed, people did not stop planning trips; searches held steady even as 
bookings halved,” said Ross Veitch, chief executive and co-founder of Wego.
“What travellers lost was the ability to fly, not the intention to. Access, not 
appetite, sets the ceiling on destination performance in this region.”

The disruption
 did not reshape the top of the rankings. Egypt, India and Saudi Arabia remained 
the top three international destinations for Middle East travellers, a grouping 
unchanged for five years, with Egypt holding first place for a 12th consecutive 
year since 2015, its longest unbroken run in the series.

Pakistan and the
 UAE swapped fourth and fifth places, and Bangladesh entered 
the top eight.

The largest 
moves came further down the table, each tied to a specific change in air 
access. Nepal climbed eight places, the biggest single move on the leaderboard,
while China, Vietnam, Sudan and Kenya each rose seven.

Only two of the 
regions Wego tracks grew: the Indian Subcontinent, up 19 per cent and the strongest
 performer, and Africa. Europe recorded the steepest fall at 20 per cent, Asia Pacific 
eased 6 per cent, and searches to Gulf destinations were down 16 per cent year to date.

Within the
 Middle East and North Africa, destinations furthest from the affected air
 corridors contracted least; Morocco eased 4.3 per cent and Egypt 5.3 per cent, while Algeria 
and Tunisia were the only two to grow.

Those closest eased between 25 per cent and 45 per cent.
Egypt’s inbound tourism drew 5.6 million visitors in the first quarter, up 
43.5 per cent year on year, according to figures Wego cited from Egypt’s tourism
 ministry and statistics agency. Saudi Arabia, shown separately as the region’s 
largest market, eased 15.8 per cent, against declines of 18 per cent to 29 per cent across most of its
neighbours.

In Asia, China
 rose seven places on an 18 per cent increase after extending visa-free entry to Saudi
 Arabia, Oman, Kuwait and Bahrain from June 9, 2025, bringing all six Gulf states under visa-free access for the first full leaderboard period. Vietnam
 also gained seven places, helped by Etihad’s first direct Abu Dhabi-Hanoi
service, launched on November 2, 2025.

Read: Amadeus EMEA’s Maher Koubaa on the AI reshaping travel and the barriers that remain

Gulf Nationals and travel trends

Wego said the 
sharpest structural finding concerned Gulf nationals, whom it tracks by 
passport rather than point of sale.

A single corridor, Saudi citizens 
travelling to Egypt, accounted for 19.6 per cent of all international travel by Gulf 
nationals, more than every Emirati, Bahraini, Omani and Qatari journey 
combined. Saudi Arabia was the top destination for all six Gulf nationalities,
 ranging from 14.1 per cent of Omani travellers to 33.0 per cent of Qataris.

Airfares,
 measured as average booking value, rose from March to peak 23 per cent above the prior
 year in June before easing to within 1 per cent by August, tracking a fuel cycle in 
which jet fuel rose above $200 a barrel by mid-April after disruption to
 shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.

Wego said the increase reflected input
 costs and capacity rather than a structural repricing, and unwound within about 
four months.

Accommodation 
moved the other way. Between March and August, hotel bookings rose 17 per cent while
 average booking value fell 18 per cent, as demand shifted closer to home: domestic 
hotel bookings rose 37 per cent and international bookings eased 9 per cent, lifting the
 domestic share by 9.5 percentage points.

Wego said the
 acute phase of the disruption was behind the market, with the cost environment 
no longer a headwind into the fourth quarter. It flagged the Caucasus, where
 Azerbaijan and Georgia fell on supply rather than preference, as the most
 likely source of a large gain in its next edition, while travel between Gulf 
states by Gulf nationals remained the segment furthest below its earlier level.