Dubai: The UAE is seeking a unification between the private and public sector to fight tuberculosis as the disease re-emerges as a public health priority globally, senior doctors said on Monday.
Doctors added that there is a need to look at preventative methods adopted by other GCC states, such as TB testing at pre-approved health centres in countries that have a high prevalence of the disease.
The testing takes place before the expatriate enters the GCC country and helps reduce the number of people who arrive with TB.
The UAE has a huge expatriate population from the subcontinent where TB is prevalent. Currently, medical fitness tests are not conducted in the home country and are done after the expatriate reaches the UAE.
Doctors said there is a need to develop a unified TB registry and find ways to prevent new cases of the disease with the help of the private sector.
Dr Ali Al Marzouki, director of primary health care at the Dubai Health Authority (DHA), said there was an urgent need to amend the existing laws on TB and develop a unified health management and information system.
He was speaking during a meeting — with senior doctors with the Ministry of Health and the Health Authority-Abu Dhabi — to discuss ways of tackling the disease.
Controlling the disease is currently posing a challenge because of the emergence of the multi-drug resistant strains of the disease as well as the correlation between TB and the HIV epidemic.
Essa Kazim, CEO of health policy and strategy at the Authority, said there is an increasing incidence of TB globally.
The meeting also felt that a national TB committee should be set up and a registry formed so that information is available at a national level.
