Children's health
Early childhood development and care
Specifically for early childhood development and care, healthcare facilities of the UAE Government offer health checkup for new-borns and vaccinations. They also provide specialised health care to pediatric patients (children) in the outpatient department in the government hospitals.
Health check-up for new-borns
Healthcare facilities provide early detection services for neonatal diseases. The diseases that are examined include 40 genetic diseases in accordance with international standards. Some of these are:
- Phenylketonuria
- Endocrine insufficiency
- Sickle cell anemia
- Congenital malformations
- Biotin deficiency disease
- Diseases of amino acids, organic and fatty (mass spectrometer)
- Galactosemia.
Other tests such as cardiac examination to detect critical congenital deformities of the heart and early screening of hearing disorders for newborns to detect hereditary deafness.
Read about Maternal and Child Health Programme - Abu Dhabi Public Health Centre.
Department of Health in Abu Dhabi introduced the Enaya screening programme that involves checking new-borns for rare conditions. The screening involves:
- Examination by the doctor
- Hearing screening
- Congenital heart disease screening
- Heel prick/bloodspot test.
Vaccination schedule
The UAE Government mandates vaccinations to children from the time they are born to the time they reach Grade 11. Vaccinations prevent the following diseases:
- BCG: Bacillus, Calmette-Guerin (against tuberculosis)
- DPT: Diphtheria, Pertussis and Tetanus
- DTaP: Diphtheria, Tetanus, and acellular Pertussis
- Hep B: Hepatitis B
- Hexavalent: DTaP, Hib, Hep B and IPV
- Hib: Haemophilus Influenzae Type B
- HPV: Human Papillomavirus
- IPV: Inactivated Poliovirus Vaccine
- MMR: Measles, Mumps and Rubella
- OPV: Oral Poliovirus Vaccine
- PCV: Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine
- Pentavalent: DPT, Hib and Hep B
- Tdap: Tetanus, reduced Diphtheria and reduced Pertussis
- Tetravalent: DTaP and Hib.
All schools and their food suppliers in the UAE must follow the healthy nutritional guidelines issued by the authorities concerned, to ensure providing healthy foods for schoolchildren.
Department of Health in Abu Dhabi launched Schools for health, a health programme focusing on the all-round health of schoolchildren.
In addition, the Government is also trying to tackle obesity and protect children from the negative effects of smoking.
Obesity
Obesity amongst children is a cause of concern in the UAE. According to the results of the National Health Survey 2017–2018 (PDF) the obesity rate amongst children and adolescents aged between 5 and 17 years reached about 17.35 per cent.
National Program for Government Communication launched 2021 Healthy Children initiative to fight obesity amongst children. The UAE National Agenda aims to reduce the prevalence of obesity amongst children from 13.17 per cent (as of 2014) to 12 percent by the year 2021.
Ministry of Health and Prevention (MoHAP) launched the ‘Mutabah’ system, the UAE’s first online system of its kind to collect data on obesity and extra weight among school students.
The ‘Mutabah’ system accurately and quickly identifies overweight school students on an annual basis and provides information on the food pattern the student should follow along with the level of physical activity to achieve and maintain a healthy weight.
Watch this video about 2021 Healthy Children.
Forbidding smoking
Read the UAE's efforts to forbid children from both active and passive smoking.
Cochlear implants
In 2018, under the Help Me Hear initiative, the UAE Government carried out cochlear implanting operations in non-Emirati children belonging to low-income households. View video:
Women's health
Senior people's health and rehabilitation
Ministry of Health and Prevention launched several initiatives for the benefit of senior people. One of these initiatives is to create a database to monitor the life expectancy of older persons in the country and expand the healthcare programmes.
Emirates Health Services provides mobile clinic services in remote areas of Fujairah and Ras Al Khaimah. The services include medical care, rehabilitation, natural treatments, preventive measures, dental, optical, dermatological and diabetes treatments. The mobile clinic in Ras Al Khaimah does not offer dental treatments.
Ministry of Community Development provides primary healthcare and social, psychological and physical therapy to UAE nationals who are at least 60 years at the elderly care centres or through their home care programme.
Red Crescent Authority offers various programmes for the elderly and coordinates with the elderly care centres across the country to organise various activities and events that draw attention to the issues of old people.
On special occasions, such as the International Day of Older Persons which falls on October 1, the authority organises field visits to elderly care homes to understand the needs of the ageing people and provide them with psychological support and special gifts. Red Crescent Authority also formed a team of caregivers and trained them to achieve its humanitarian mission in the elderly care arena.
In Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Khalifa Medical City in Abu Dhabi city and Al Tawam Hospital in Al Ain offer home care services to all UAE nationals.
Abu Dhabi Rehabilitation Centre is the only centre that provides specialised care for the elderly in Abu Dhabi city. It admits senior citizens who have no body to take care of them. Abu Dhabi Rehabilitation Centre offers a number of city and social services including diagnosis, consultation, physical therapy, speech therapy, psychotherapy, exercise therapy, water cure, work therapy, family counselling and integration into the society.
In Al Ain, the municipality provides mobile unit service. Through this service, elderly and people of determination can request for a customer service representative to visit them at their premises and process their service requests.
Community Development Authority in Dubai runs 'Elderly Happiness' and 'Home Care (Weleef)' initiatives that ensure rehabilitation, care and happiness of senior citizens.
Dubai Health Authority provides home care services to both Emiratis and expatriate residents. DHA provides comprehensive geriatric assessment, nursing care, home safety evaluations, rehabilitation and nutrition assessment among others.
Sharjah provides home care service which involves accompanying the elderly citizens to the hospitals and nursing them back to health.
Health of people of determination
The UAE is keen on providing accessible healthcare services to people of determination (persons with disabilities or special needs). Federal Law No. 29 of 2006 Concerning the Rights of People with Special Needs protects the rights of people of determination (people with special needs) and guarantees them the right to live with dignity. Article 2 of the law provides: A person's special needs shall not be a reason to deprive him/her of their rights and services especially in welfare as well as social, economic, health, educational, professional, cultural and leisure services.
Emirates Health Services - EHS issues a medical card to people of determination entitling its holder to receive free medical services through EHS. Similarly, Ministry of Community Development (MoCD) also offers a card entitling people of determination to free health insurance and medical glasses for children of such cardholders.
Zayed Higher Organization for People of Determination (ZHO) offers assessment and evaluation of mental, psychological, social health of people of determination in order to diagnose the type and the level of disability/limited ability by using certified global standards. It also offers hippo-therapy sessions with the purpose of developing multiple skills and functions such as sensory integration, underdevelopment, sensory perception and balance.
In the emirate of Abu Dhabi, if there is a medical emergency for people of determination, you can get help by sending an SMS to 5999. You are required to send information about the incident, location of the patient and a phone number on which the police can contact you.
Community Development Authority too offers a card to people of determination entitling them to several medical facilities and services.
Dubai’s Health Facility Guidelines 2019 (PDF, 200KB) covers specific requirements for healthcare facilities to ensure that they are safe and functional for staff, patients and everyone else including the people of determination. The section on ‘Access, Mobility, Occupational Health and Safety and Security’ of the guidelines specifies standards in the fields of:
- Space
- Human engineering
- Ergonomic considerations
- Accessibility requirements
- Signage guidance
- Safety and mobility considerations for floors, grab rails, doors, windows.
Updated On :
29 Oct 2024
