Official says the UAE is not aware of the 'GCC decision' not to recruit workers suffering from diabetes and high blood pressure.
Dubai — A top official from the Ministry of Health (MoH) has dismissed claims that the UAE is closing the door on chronically ill patients.
But speaking to Khaleej Times on Sunday, Assistant Undersecretary at MoH, Dr Hussain Abdul Rahman, said “nothing of the sort” is happening in the UAE.
The online news site quoted Director-General of the Gulf Health Ministers Council, Tawfik Khoja, as saying the GCC member countries “have jointly decided not to recruit workers suffering from chronic diseases”. But Abdul Rahman said the UAE was not a part of the decision.
“There are many people in the UAE with chronic diseases such as diabetes and high-blood pressure — both locals and non-locals. This is not new and it is not a problem therefore overseas workers will not be affected.”
And in response to the news that the move “will help the countries reduce pressure on their health services”, Abdul Rahman again dismissed the idea. “This is not a decision the UAE is aware of, therefore it is not a part of it. It will not be happening here.”
The online article of Arab News was said to be published following a report that about 10 per cent of the two million workers recruited annually by the GCC members suffer from chronic diseases such as diabetes and high-blood pressure.
Khaleej Times also contacted the Dubai Health Authority for comment on Sunday but a representative from the health authority said it was unaware of such a decision, therefore could not provide comment.
Meanwhile, Dubai-based lawyer, Ashish Mehta says from individually practising such a policy, GCC are now jointly considering to formulate, adopt and practice a unified policy on the subject matter.
“For instance in the UAE a medical test is mandatory for affixing a residence visa. Any person showing POSITIVE results for a chronic diseases as per the list of diseases classified by the UAE as chronic disease, is refused visa to reside in the UAE.
Further each GCC country currently has its own list of diseases which are classified as chronic disease. Going forward GCC are considering to jointly list the diseases which may be classified as chronic diseases. Let us wait to see if GCC adopts a unified policy on this subject matter.”
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