Dubai: Private clinics and hospitals often fail to notify the Ministry of Health when they encounter contagious diseases, according to a senior official at the ministry.

He said their cooperation is weak and many private institutions "seem more concerned about their own profits than public health".

The stinging criticism came from Dr Juma Bilal, head of the Disease Control Department at the ministry, who said he wants to see more cooperation from the private health sector especially when it comes to contagious diseases.

"In the UAE, more than 50 per cent of healthcare is provided by the private sector, but the majority of them fail to report these cases. The only contagious disease they commonly report to the ministry is chicken pox.

"But they do not report cases of tuberculosis. Most of these cases are reported by the government healthcare providers. It is very rare that private clinics and hospitals notify us of TB.

"If we know of a TB case, we call all the people living with the patient or who are in contact with him or her. We screen them for the disease, and this helps us control the disease."

He speculated that private hospitals do not report the diseases to the ministry because they do not want to lose profits they make from patients.

Under Federal Law no 3 for the year 1975 governing private medical practice, if private clinics detect contagious disease, they must inform the Preventive Medicine Department at the ministry.

Offenders will be punished by the ministry. They will be warned on the first offence. If they continue to violate the law, they will be fined between Dh1,000-5,000 and the final step is closure.

Action depends on the type of disease.

Ministry sources said though the law is in place, it is rarely implemented. Dr Bilal said the ministry has issued a book called UAE Disease Surveillance, which is regularly updated with new diseases.

Dr T.P. Ray, medical director at Dr Ray's Clinic, said a doctor should always follow the laws of the country.

"A person with an infectious disease will have contracted it from another person and might infect other people. By informing the ministry, we can help control the disease for the good of the population."