The Preventive Medicine Centre in Al Ghubaiba will issue health fitness certificates and health cards from today to expatriates.

Dr Khalifa Al Qutti, director of the Preventive Medicine Department at the Sharjah Medical District, said the centre is expected to receive 200 people daily in the mornings for check-ups.

The centre can conduct x-rays and has other facilities which will ensure that certificates needed for issuing and renewing visas are processed quickly.

Health cards will be issued so that transactions can be conducted in one place. The Health Registration Section, which issues health cards, has a special section for women. The proceeds from the typing section will go to needy patients.

Babysitters, housemaids, drivers, cooks, hotel and factory workers, mechanics, masons, electricians and tailors can undergo tests at the Contagious Disease Control Centre in Al Butaina between 4pm and 8 pm every day.

The centre coordinates with the authorities regarding the deportation of workers afflicted with contagious diseases.

Dr Al Qutti said the Central Preventive Medicine Department at the Ministry of Health has provided the new Preventive Medicine Centre in Sharjah with all sections for it to provide the best services.

The department recently opened a centre in Al Dhaid and will soon open one in Khor Fakkan and another in Kalba.

The centres will cater to residents in the central and eastern zones. They will provide check-ups, mother and child care, register newborns and deaths and issue health fitness certificates to workers. They will also provide school and oral health care.