ABU DHABI // The law that requires compulsory deportation of expatriates with tuberculosis is counterproductive and should be changed, a senior health official said yesterday.
Dr Ali al Marzooqi, the director of public health and safety at the Dubai Health Authority (DHA), said fear of deportation causes most expatriates with the disease to "disappear" once they are diagnosed.
Speaking at InnovHealth 2010, a two-day health conference in Abu Dhabi, Dr al Marzooqi also said the private sector should be allowed to treat patients with TB.
Currently, only public hospitals and clinics are allowed to treat the disease. They are required to notify the concerned health authority of each diagnosis and refer it to public safety officials, who are required to follow up.
Last year in Dubai alone, the DHA received 242 TB notifications mostly from the private sector. Nearly 60 per cent of those - 142 cases - were lost and could not be followed up.
"We don't know what happened to those cases, maybe they left the country and went back to their homes for two months or three or four to take their medication there, then come back," Dr al Marzooqi said.
He added that patients tended to provide fake names or contact details to avoid deportation.
"We have to allow the private sector to provide treatment for TB," he said. "In Dubai we are pushing for that, to put patients at ease. We need to let patients know that if you have TB, you will not be deported - no action will be taken against you."
Federal law says expatriates diagnosed with infectious diseases such as HIV/Aids and TB must be deported. But in Dubai, Dr al Marzooqi said, "we only deport newcomers, not long-term residents".
A lack of co-ordination between health authorities, health providers and the Ministry of Health also makes the disease hard to control. Additionally, no reliable data is accessible.
Since 1995, there has been a 17 per cent annual increase in the number of diagnosed cases of TB in Dubai but mainly among certain nationalities.
"Among the local population of the UAE, 24 cases out of 242 were registered in Dubai last year, and 20 cases in 2008 - so among Emiratis, the situation is more or less stable," Dr al Marzooqi said.
Expatriate workers from countries where TB is endemic, such as India, Pakistan and the Philippines, account for most cases. These workers are "crucial to the economic growth of the GCC and probably Dubai most of all," Dr al Marzooqi noted.
The World Health Organisation estimates that TB affects 1.6 billion people worldwide. Most of these people were in Asia (55 per cent in 2008) and Africa (30 per cent).
More mobile populations are helping the disease spread, and threatening many countries' national programmes to eradicate TB.
In 2007, 3.44 million foreign nationals entered Dubai from countries requiring visa applications and approval prior to departure, which excludes all western countries.
"Because of this, and our huge dependence on tourism ... our different health systems are an issue and we need better work among all the health authorities when tackling this sort of a problem," said Dr al Marzooqi.
He also stressed that treatment should be free "regardless of nationality" and all insurance providers should ensure that TB treatment is included in coverage. "TB is one of the few diseases that is completely curably and the medication is relatively inexpensive," he said.
In February, Dr Essa Kazim, the DHA's chief executive of health policy and strategy, said his department was planning to review certain health laws, including the one requiring automatic deportation for tuberculosis. No result of that review has been announced.
hkhalaf@thenational.ae
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COMPANY PROFILE
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Total funding: Self funded
COMPANY PROFILE
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At a glance
- 20,000 new jobs for Emiratis over three years
- Dh300 million set aside to train 18,000 jobseekers in new skills
- Managerial jobs in government restricted to Emiratis
- Emiratis to get priority for 160 types of job in private sector
- Portion of VAT revenues will fund more graduate programmes
- 8,000 Emirati graduates to do 6-12 month replacements in public or private sector on a Dh10,000 monthly wage - 40 per cent of which will be paid by government
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Starring: Raed Zeno, Hadi Awada, Dr Mohammad Abdalla
Director: Raed Zeno
Rating: 4/5
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Singham Again
Director: Rohit Shetty
Stars: Ajay Devgn, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Ranveer Singh, Akshay Kumar, Tiger Shroff, Deepika Padukone
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Four-day collections of TOH
Day Indian Rs (Dh)
Thursday 500.75 million (25.23m)
Friday 280.25m (14.12m)
Saturday 220.75m (11.21m)
Sunday 170.25m (8.58m)
Total 1.19bn (59.15m)
(Figures in millions, approximate)
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UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
The 15 players selected
Muzzamil Afridi, Rahman Gul, Rizwan Haider (Dezo Devils); Shahbaz Ahmed, Suneth Sampath (Glory Gladiators); Waqas Gohar, Jamshaid Butt, Shadab Ahamed (Ganga Fighters); Ali Abid, Ayaz Butt, Ghulam Farid, JD Mahesh Kumara (Hiranni Heros); Inam Faried, Mausif Khan, Ashok Kumar (Texas Titans
US PGA Championship in numbers
1 Joost Luiten produced a memorable hole in one at the par-three fourth in the first round.
2 To date, the only two players to win the PGA Championship after winning the week before are Rory McIlroy (2014 WGC-Bridgestone Invitational) and Tiger Woods (2007, WGC-Bridgestone Invitational). Hideki Matsuyama or Chris Stroud could have made it three.
3 Number of seasons without a major for McIlroy, who finished in a tie for 22nd.
4 Louis Oosthuizen has now finished second in all four of the game's major championships.
5 In the fifth hole of the final round, McIlroy holed his longest putt of the week - from 16ft 8in - for birdie.
6 For the sixth successive year, play was disrupted by bad weather with a delay of one hour and 43 minutes on Friday.
7 Seven under par (64) was the best round of the week, shot by Matsuyama and Francesco Molinari on Day 2.
8 Number of shots taken by Jason Day on the 18th hole in round three after a risky recovery shot backfired.
9 Jon Rahm's age in months the last time Phil Mickelson missed the cut in the US PGA, in 1995.
10 Jimmy Walker's opening round as defending champion was a 10-over-par 81.
11 The par-four 11th coincidentally ranked as the 11th hardest hole overall with a scoring average of 4.192.
12 Paul Casey was a combined 12 under par for his first round in this year's majors.
13 The average world ranking of the last 13 PGA winners before this week was 25. Kevin Kisner began the week ranked 25th.
14 The world ranking of Justin Thomas before his victory.
15 Of the top 15 players after 54 holes, only Oosthuizen had previously won a major.
16 The par-four 16th marks the start of Quail Hollow's so-called "Green Mile" of finishing holes, some of the toughest in golf.
17 The first round scoring average of the last 17 major champions was 67.2. Kisner and Thorbjorn Olesen shot 67 on day one at Quail Hollow.
18 For the first time in 18 majors, the eventual winner was over par after round one (Thomas shot 73).
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