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29 March 2024

1170 denied visas due to health risks

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By Staff

As many 1,170 people failed Dubai Health Authority’s (DHA) medical fitness tests in the first quarter of this year and consequently were denied residence permits.

Arabic daily Emarat Al Youm has reported that the medical fitness tests have filtered out applicants with contagious and dangerous diseases including Aids, hepatitis (B), and tuberculosis

The daily quoted Maisa Al Bustani, the Director of Medical Fitness at DHA, as saying that DHA received 365,528 applications for medical fitness tests through more than a dozen of its medical centres.

She said that of those rejected applicants, 106 were infected with Aids.

Al Bustani stated that the tests which were conducted from January till the end of April revealed 247 persons were infected with Hepatitis (B), while 817 infected with pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) were prevented from obtaining a fitness certificate.

She explained, “these patients are quarantined by the DHA and are subjected to medical treatment and returned to their countries".

She noted that the new resolution issued by the Ministerial Council for Services to conduct the medical examination for expatriates in their countries of origin, would limit the access of people with dangerous diseases to the UAE.

According to a report issued by the Statistical Committee of the DHA 3087 persons infected with contagious diseases were deported to their countries last year. Of those 183 were infected with AIDS, 722 infected with TB, and 2173 were infected with Hepatitis (B).