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29 March 2024

VIP medical fitness clinics in Dubai soon

Published
By Majorie van Leijen

Three new medical fitness test centers will be opened in the next two years, the Dubai Health Authority (DHA) has revealed.

In its weekly Twitter Clinic where specialised doctors take to the DHA Twitter handle to discuss various health related issues, medical fitness test was topic of the debate this Thursday.

A new medical fitness center exclusively for VIPs will be established by the year-end. Furthermore, two new occupational centers will be opened early 2015, serving people who wish to get a certification according to the requirement of their profession, said Maisa Al Bustani, Director of Medical Fitness.

The VIP center will be located in new Marina, where the service is most in demand. Although VIP services are currently offered in a few other locations, the center will be the first dedicated to offering VIP treatment, which includes the option to fast-track the test results.

For Dh690 a candidate will be able to get the test results within four hours. For Dh470 the test results will be received within 24 hours, and for Dh370 a 48-hour period is taken into account.

The new occupational centers will be located in Mirdif and Karama. There are two categories of employees that are required to undergo additional screening. One category include household workers such as drivers, cooks, gardeners, nannies and housemaids, while the second category include people in the food industry, those working in beauty parlours and health clubs.

Additional screening

“Additional screening  is required for these categories because of the sensitivity of their profession,” said Al Bustani.

Female household maids, for example, must undergo a pregnancy test when entering the country, as well as upon visa renewal. If the test proves to be positive, the residency will not be completed.

Al Bustani explained: “Mandatory screening for housemaids includes Hepatitis B, HIV, TB, Syphilis and pregnancy test. The housemaid also receives all three doses of the Hepatitis B vaccine, if she does not have it already.

She advised people who want to employ a house help that they get their employees screened for infectious diseases as soon as they arrive in the UAE.

Household drivers will also be required to undergo the same screening applied to the household category. Drivers of any kind of vehicle –taxis, trucks, limousine etc- are required to undergo a physical fitness test, and a blood sugar test in addition to the standard tests.

Jet ski instructors form another distinctive category; before they can get to work they must be tested for their visual abilities, vital acuity, undergo an X-ray, physical examination, laboratory investigation and electrocardiogram.

The DHA has 16 medical fitness centres located across different parts of the Emirates for issuance and renewal of medical fitness tests, which is required for a residency, employment, education or residency visa.

From January to March this year, 440,143 medical fitness procedures ( renewal and issuance) were conducted, said he DHA.

The DHA pointed out that it offers a mobile medical fitness service for companies with a large number of employees, applicable to visa renewals as these require a blood test only. “Our team conducts these tests on-the-spot at the premises of the company. We encourage more companies to make use of this opportunity. At one time more than 70 employees are screened,” said Al Bustani.

In addition, the DHA offers the Tawajod service, which provides medical fitness test at the doorstep. The Tawajod Xpress service is free of cost for people with special needs, excluding the Dh260 charge for the regular visa service.