Clearing the air on medical fitness tests that are mandatory for expatriates, the Ministry of Health has said that private medical centres will be temporarily allowed to conduct the tests.
Earlier this month, the Ministry of Health had announced that as per the federal law, private clinics and hospitals may not be allowed to conduct the compulsory tests.
A temporary solution
"We are allowing private medical centres to conduct these tests for the moment. However, in time, only the Ministry of Health, Dubai Health Authority and Abu Dhabi Health Authority hospitals will be allowed to conduct these tests," Humaid Al Qutami, Minister of Health, said. The decision to temporarily allow the private sector is to help ease the transition of the new law, Al Qutami added.
The decision is as per Federal Law No 7/2008 that states people renewing/applying for a residence or employment visa will have to undergo a number of medical fitness tests, which can no longer be conducted by private centres.
Maisa Al Bustani, Director of the Medical Fitness Department at the Department of Health and Medical Services (Dohms), said a new state-of-the-art centre will ease the pressure from the growing number of expatriates who require the fitness certificates.
Tackling pressure
Currently, there are seven certified Dohms centres which conduct the required medical fitness tests for over 3,000 people per day. "We feel the X-ray services are slow as we have only two machines at the Al Maktoum centre," said Maisa.
She added that the new Al Qusais centre will "have a capacity for over 5,000 people, 13 registration counters, 20 blood collection units and five digital X-ray machines".
Dohms centres in Dubai:
Al Maktoum Hospital, Al Satwa Clinic, Al Khawaneej, Al Twar, Al Mankhool, Al Safa Clinic, Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) clinic. Dohms is expanding its centre at Al Khawaneej clinic and building a new one at Al Lusaili on Al Ain road
Residents' reactions
The decision not to allow private clinics to conduct medical fitness certification tests has attracted a mixed bag of responses. A driver outside a private fitness certification centre said: "I am not concerned whether I get my tests done from a private or government centre as long as it's done in time." J. Desai, an Indian expatriate in Dubai for over 17 years, said: "A government clinic takes too much time. We have to wait in long queues. I prefer private clinics. Government clinics will be overcrowded when private clinics will not be allowed." Greg Berch, an Australian expatriate who completed his blood test with a private centre, said: "I know private centres will not be allowed to conduct these tests. The last time I went to a government centre, it look hours, while it took a few minutes to get my tests done at a private centre."
