‘You feel safe with a health card’

Dubai

Eisa Al Maidour, the new director-general of the Dubai Health Authority (DHA), believes that making health insurance mandatory is critical to ensure minor ailments do not worsen for lack of treatment.

“A small disease becomes a very big illness [later on],” he said, as some people hold back going to the doctor because they lack medical insurance.

Al Maidour said insurance coverage for all will also result in even better services for patients and will encourage investments in this fast-growing sector.

“You feel safe with a [health insurance] card in your pocket,” he said. “It’s like a credit card [to use the medical services when you need it]. “That is why we are pushing for insurance coverage; we want everyone to feel safe,” he said.

The director did not give a time-frame when medical coverage will be available, but it is learned that it is in its final stages of approval.

Presently only those employed have medical coverage while families of the employees are not covered. Mandatory health coverage will give patients better options and better access to health care and once that is implemented there will be need for more expansion in the health sector.

Hospital beds

Speaking to Gulf News in an exclusive interview since taking office in November last year, Al Maidour said 1,500 more hospital beds will be available as new construction and renovations of medical facilities are under way.

“We are building on the Dubai Master Plan 2020,” he said. “We are keeping an eye on the changes not only locally, but regionally and internationally, to be number one.”

He said that “building trust is not easy”, but patients feel safe here because they know doctors come from well-known institutions, the hospitals and clinics are accredited.

“Our laws and legislations are also working in creating a safe and healthy enviornment for everyone,” he said.

Medical history

Al Maidour also plans to get every Dubai resident’s medical history on record.

“We do not wish to just vaccinate [a child] and the ‘customer’ comes back to us years later with diabetes or hypertension,” he said.

He said the data will show how healthy the population is or when and how to treat people who have genetic issues. “How can the doctor know, if the patient did not tell him, or if the patient’s history is not recorded? What will the doctor advise?” he said.

Al Maidour advises all residents to find out their family medical history. “Talk to your father, your grandmother,” he said. The digital medical record system is expected to cover the whole of the emirate.

Silent killers

It was found that many Emiratis and expatriates were unaware that they had a family history of diabetes or cardiovascular disease until they underwent a medical check-up.

Some diseases such as hypertension are “silent killers’ and work quietly for years in the background until it is either too late for treatment or the patient is incapacitated.

The director said Dubai does not wish to compete with other low-cost medical tourism destinations. “Dubai is attracting the best doctors, it is putting into place the best systems and best services.”

Health care tourism

He plans to make the emirate a medical hub in the region.

According to studies, medical tourism in Dubai is estimated to be growing at 15 per cent annually, and people coming here for treatment are not looking at cutting costs.

Al Maidour has some more advice for Dubai residents: “Be healthy and enjoy your life.” He said it is not only the vision of the Authority but also every department in Dubai to promote the best living standards and a healthy lifestyle for every resident.

“You cannot enjoy life how much ever you own [if you are not healthy],” he said, encouraging everyone to work out every day.

He said people will be able to enjoy “wellness services” at all Primary Healthcare Centres (PHCs). “It is our intention to make PHCs a place not only for treatment but where you enjoy sports, [work out] in gyms, places for children to enjoy.”

He said the PHC is the “front-line of the battle” to improve everyone’s lifestyle.

“We wish that everyone eats the right foods, eats healthy, stops smoking, sleeps early.”

A large section of the UAE population suffers from various lifestyle diseases such as obesity because of a sedentary lifestyle and eating junk food.

“All it takes is just 30 minutes in the gym,” he said. “It also improves your mood. It is better than Panadol,”he said.