Health

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Expat Doctors Working With Ministry of Health Banned From Private Practice

Dubai Doctors

Expatriate doctors who work full-time at any Ministry of Health (MOH) government facility will no longer be allowed to work part-time in the private sector in Dubai beginning October 1.

Gulf News quotes a senior Dubai Health Authority (DHA) official, saying, “The [affected people] are only the non-UAE physicians who are working full-time in MOH and part-time in the private sector in Dubai,”

A DHA circular released on July 4 said that all DHA part-time licenses for non-local physicians will be cancelled by October 1, 2012. Non-complying professionals and facilities will be penalised. The decision came following a directive from the MOH in April.

Expat doctors and physicians working with Ministry of Health have two options now. Either they let go of their private practice or resign from their government jobs.

This decision by MOH go both ways. It could result in good physicians resigning from government jobs to go for private practice. It may also result in shortage of doctors at private hospitals / clinics as many doctors will prefer their lucrative government jobs over private practice.

Earlier, it was reported that the UAE will require approximately 13,000 doctors over the next two years due to growing population and rise in lifestyle-induced diseases such as diabetes, obesity and cardiovascular illness.

It is to be noted that private practice is usually illegal in UAE and an employee cannot work part-time in usual cases.

dubai expat life

Health Policy Update: Expats have to get medical test from home countries before coming to UAE

Expatriate healthcare in UAEIt has been announced that expatriate workers coming to work in the Emirates will have to first get their medical tests done in their home countries.

But to make sure that job-seekers do not try to beat the system and show fake medical test results, the new expatriates will also be re-tested here to see the test results are in order.

As comic as it may sound, the Health Council chaired by Shaikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Presidential Affairs, has instructed the Ministry of Health to issue the necessary bylaws to implement the new system.

Image: Emirates 24|7

Tourists in Dubai to get a free mobile SIM

AIDS Alert: HIV cases on the rise in Dubai

HIV AIDS in DubaiA total of 518 people have been detected with contagious diseases during mandatory medical fitness tests conducted during the last two months, according to the Dubai Health Authority (DHA).

The director of DHA’s medical fitness services Maisa’a Al Bustani confirmed that 60 people were infected with HIV .

The total number of HIV cases detected last year was 183.

Several cases of tuberculosis and hepatitis B were also discovered when the DHA conducted tests across 15 medical fitness centres in January and February, Al Bustani told Arabic daily Emarat Al Youm.

“Those infected with HIV will be held in custody and deported to their respective home countries. People infected with tuberculosis will undergo medical treatment until they are cured and then sent back to their country,” she said.

Hepatitis B is a disqualification for renewal of residence visa for six categories of workers including maids, barbers and those in the hospitality industry, she added.

Of the 84,000 people who came for medical tests during the two months, those infected with tuberculosis was 354 and 104 with hepatitis B.

Residence visas are issued subject to the person passing a medical fitness and those found to have been infected with HIV are deported.

From: Emirates 24|7

relaxing in Dubai

Child birth costs to double up in UAE

child birth charges in uae to double up

If you are expecting a child and child birth costs are not insured or covered by the employer, you better start thinking about the alternatives.

Why? Because, child birth charges will soon go up 100 per cent at all Ministry of Health affiliated hospitals if you do not have a health card.

The cost of a normal delivery has gone up to Dh 5,000 from Dh 2,500. A caesarean’s cost has doubled to Dh 8000 from Dh 4,000.

Earlier, this year hospitals affiliated with the DHA increased the price of child delivery by 250 per cent. Natural birth costs rose to Dh 7000 from Dh 2,000, while caesareans increased from Dh 3,000 to Dh 9,000.

The cost of child delivery charges in private hospitals on an average costs Dh 8,500 in an one bedroom suite. A caesarean costs Dh 17,000 in a one-bedroom suite for a four-day stay.

Image: ajrpix [Flickr]

Dubai to dispose of 5,000 embryos

A fertility clinic in Dubai is to begin next week disposing of about 5,000 human embryos on religious grounds, AFP reports via Khaleej Times.

A 2008 federal law banned the storage of fertilized human eggs due to religion-based concerns over “mixing in the lineage” between families.

Eggs can be fertilized outside the womb during In-Vitro Fertilization (IVF), which produces excess fertilized eggs which can be frozen for future use.

An estimated 5,000 fertilized eggs are stored at the state-owned Dubai Gynaecology and Fertility Centre, the only centre in the Gulf state allowed to perform IVF. Another 5,000 fertilized eggs are believed to be stored at Al-Tawam Hospital in Al-Ain, around 150 kilometres (95 miles) southeast of the Emirati capital of Abu Dhabi.

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