Dubai: A total of 52 new health facilities were opened across the UAE during 2017 while 42 medical and pharmaceutical facilities were shut down.
The closure of the health facilities followed intensive campaigns by inspection teams of the Empowerment and Healthcare Compliance Department to ensure that medical establishments comply with the requirements for practising the profession.
The inspection campaigns detected a number of violations of safety standards for health and pharmaceutical establishments. These included the misuse of medicines and pharmaceuticals; non-compliance with engineering standards, hygiene and sterilisation instructions for medical devices; non-disposal of medical waste; and the absence of ventilation systems.
Dr Ameen Hussain Al Amiri, assistant undersecretary for Public Health Policy and Licensing at the Ministry of Health and Prevention and vice-chairman of the Medical Licensing Committee, stressed the ministry’s keenness to encourage investment in the health and pharmaceutical sector, and develop health systems, laws and standards to achieve the UAE vision.
The UAE’s health vision aims at offering the community health-care services in accordance with the highest international standards, and to work at a constant pace through ongoing inspection campaigns to ensure the commitment of health facilities to the systems and laws, Al Amiri said.
The ministry also temporarily closed down 27 health facilities for violating Federal Law No. (4) Of 2015 concerning private health facilities and 15 pharmaceutical establishments for violating Federal Law No. 4 of 1983 regarding pharmacy and pharmaceutical institutions during 2017, he added.
The period of closure ranged from one to six months depending on the extent of the violation and its direct effects on public health. This came after inspection and control teams of the ministry conducted inspections at 2,256 of the 2,608 health and pharmaceutical facilities registered with the ministry in 2017.
