Dubai — A top official from the Ministry of Health (MoH) has dismissed claims that the UAE is closing the door on chronically ill patients.
On January 2, Saudi Arabia’s Arab News reported that all six Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries will hire only expatriates who are medically fit.
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… see more
source: khaleejtimes
Tags: Chronically ill, laws, UAE
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