Masafi Hospital set to launch 2nd phase

By PMA RASHEED

The Gulf Today, 18 Aug 2010

THE recently opened Masafi Hospital will soon launch its second phase of functioning by introducing more services for in-patients and adding various departments to the hospital, a senior health official said. The hospital currently has operations for out-patients only.

Dr Mohammed Abdulla Saeed, director of Fujairah Medical District, said that the number of outpatients who visited the hospital since its opening in July has reached 546. “The hospital has received 482 patients in the general section, 20 people sought treatment at orthopaedics department and 44 patients visited the hospital’s ENT section,” he added. “The second phase of enhancing services at the hospital includes emergency unit, internal medicine, ophthalmology, gynaecology, surgery, paediatrics and physical therapy section,” Dr Saeed pointed out.

“A number of specialist doctors, including a general practitioner, ENT specialist, gynaecologist, dentist, paediatrician, internal medicine specialist and three orthopaedic specialists along with 15 nurses, and 10 x-ray and laboratory technicians have also been appointed at the hospital,” he elaborated.

Close eye on shisha cafes; 600 inspected in Dubai

By PMA RASHEED

The Gulf Today, 18 Aug 2010

Around 600 Shisha cafes across Dubai have been visited by the public health and safety officials of Dubai Municipality (DM) before the arrival of the Holy Month of Ramadan.

The inspections were carried out as part of the civic body's strategies to check the validity of such establishments' licenses and to ensure that they comply with the civic regulations on public health safety and hygiene requirements, a senior DM official said.

Redha Salman, Director of Public Health and Safety at the DM, indicated that the hygiene conditions in Shisha cafes especially the preparation area, sufficiency of ventilation and air conditioning, health cards of workers, and their uniforms, were on the agenda of the inspection campaign.

"The cafes should be operated only on ground floors, except in hotels. No Shisha cafes will be permitted to operate in classified residential areas. The shops should be set up in a minimum area of 1,500 square feet." he pointed out.

"Shisha cafes should also be 25 metres away from the entrances of buildings. At least 200 metre distance should be maintained from mosques, schools and other educational institutions," elaborated Salman.

According to him, the shisha shops should be licensed by the Department of Economic Development (DED) in addition to the permit from the public health department.

He said, "The cafe doors should be closed always, except for entry and exit of customers. Safety requirements including measures for prevention of inflammable materials like fire extinguishers should be installed at the shops. Emergency exit also should be provided to use in the events of causalities."

As per the regulations, the cafes should set up interior arrangements such as proper ventilation system that will help the public avoid exposure to passive smoking. Food serving and preparation areas should be also separated from the smoking area.

"The shop owners should also fix a message board at the entrance of the cafŽ, warning people under the age of 20 years not to use the facilities," noted Salman.

He urged owners of Shisha establishments to adhere to the rules and regulations in order to protect public health, thereby avoiding any legal proceedings to be initiated by the Municipality against the violators.

Two years ago, the DM had issued final orders to the owners of all Shisha centres operating in Dubai to relocate their premises to non-residential areas, promoting a smoke-free environment for the residents at restaurants and cafes.

Owners of coffee shops and restaurants were also subjected to stop the service of providing Shisha-smoking facility at their shops.

"The violating shisha outlets can be fined in the range of Dh5,000 to Dh40,000 as per the level of violations," said the Municipality.

(Photo used for illustrative purpose)

Dubai sets up green lab

BY PMA RASHEED
The Gulf Today, 13 Aug 2010

A specialised green laboratory has been set up in Dubai to carry out tests on green building materials and products, as all the new buildings in the Emirate have to comply with the civic body’s green building regulations.

The lab will facilitate application of the requirements and specifications for the green building regulation, which will soon be issued by Dubai Municipality (DM) as the strategy will significantly contribute to environment conservation and reduction of energy consumption in the Emirate.

Hawa Abdullah Bastaki, Director of Dubai Central Laboratory Department (DCLD), has said that a guide outlining an inventory of all green building materials and products has been prepared.

“The user’s guide includes the contact details of suppliers and manufacturers of the green materials. Another guide also will be issued with the names of laboratories for testing these materials,” she added.

“The laboratory has been designed with the global standards, advanced technologies and specialised devices, aimed at facilitating testing services for the manufacturers of green building materials,” noted Bastaki.

According to her, the analysis procedures at the green lab will ensure accuracy and quality of tests as well as the activation of the monitoring role of the central lab.

“The civic body’s engineering materials laboratory has been conducting many physical and mechanical tests on building materials such as concrete, steel, tiles, cement, mortar products, thermal insulation products, humidity insulation products, polystyrene, fly ash, fibreglass bars, plastic pipes, rock wool and glass wool,” she elaborated.

“Such materials are used in civil construction, buildings and construction of roads in accordance with international standards and specifications adopted in this area,” Bastaki added.

“These laboratories also implement monitoring programmes and quality control on materials of roads and bridges by conducting physical and mechanical tests on asphalt mix, rubble, pavement base and under the foundation,” she pointed out.

“Tests have been conducted on 49,157 samples so far, while the number of reports issued was 39,000 within the period referred to,” Bastaki disclosed.

“The procedures will increase customer confidence in the accuracy of the results and give credibility to the products that have been tested.

It has obtained the approval for more than 52 tests in accordance with the international standard ISO17025 specification which facilitates the export and acceptance of these products globally,” she elaborated. According to her, the engineering materials lab has plans to launch new services of analysis related to safety and health of the consumer.

“The range includes testing on paints, mortars, and checking the quality of tyres as well as introducing new tests for asphalt mixes, such as for distortion and cracking,” said Bastaki.

Caution over Mamzar lagoon slipway

By PMA RASHEED

The Gulf Today, 2 Aug 2010

The civic body in Dubai has instructed marine passengers to Mamzar lagoon to be extra vigilant about the possibilities of life-threatening dangers while using the slipway or boat slip to the area.

In order to avoid disasters in the sensitive spot, the Dubai Municipality (DM) has strictly prohibited the visitors from exceeding the floating 'No Entry' signs and entering the Mamzar lagoon, according to a senior civic official.

The number of water sports freaks, leisure visitors and tourists thronging the area significantly increases in summer, as they come here to escape the soaring temperatures.

The Municipality has already issued a set of safety measures and called upon all the visitors to take additional personal care and abide by the specified requirements, while venturing into sea water in the area.

Alia Al Harmoudi, the head of the Coastal Zone and Waterways Management Section at the Environment Department of the DM, said the public should use the slipway only as an access to the sea.

“Roaming around in the Mamzar Creek is prohibited. Professional fishing boats are also not allowed to use the slipway,” she added.

"People should also maintain the speed limit in this area not exceeding 5 knots. The parking lot adjacent to the slipway is allocated for parking trailers only on a temporarily basis and using it to park the boat is prohibited," she pointed out.

“The offenders to the municipal regulations will face stringent punitive actions like imposing of hefty fines and other legal measures,” warned Al Harmoudi.

She urged the public to co-operate with the municipality and to adhere to the instructions for their own safety.

“The Al Mamzar slipway had been closed for several years due to a number of abuses committed by the users of jet skis and the boat owners. The municipality re-opened the point for the public later, after setting up certain conditions that govern the use of the slipway,” she elaborated. 

“As the Al Mamzar slipway is a major tourist facility that supports leisure activities, tourism and water sports. Owners of yachts and boats are supposed to ride their boats for recreation and sports only,” she pointed out.

According to Al Harmoudi, all the roads and streets leading to the slipway in Al Mamzar carry the signs.

She said, “Two sign boards could be found upon reaching the slipway prohibiting its use.”

“This had created a lot of confusion to the visitors prior to the recent announcement of the municipality on the opening of the slipway and allowing the owners of the marine vehicles to use it,” she added.

Al Harmoudi noted that there are only two slipways in Deira side, one in Al Mamzar and the other in Al Hamriya port.

“The latter being meant exclusively for commercial fishing boats,” she pointed out.
“Prior to the municipality announcement of allowing the public to use the slipway at Mamzar, a large number of practitioners of marine sports and residents in the area of Deira had to travel a long distance to reach Jumeirah or Umm Suqeim,” she elaborated.

In the beginning of the summer season, the Dubai Municipality warns all the beach-goers to be cautious about the heat stress and its symptoms.

During this time of the year, the authorities warn the beachgoers to take extra caution while venturing into sea, as drowning incidents increases significantly.

UAE hosts WHO’s global injection safety network meet

By PMA RASHEED

The Gulf Today, 3 Aug 2010

The UAE has extended its support to the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) war against deadly diseases which are transmitted through unsafe injection practices in poor and developing countries.

The WHO’s eleventh global network for injection safety programme will be staged in November to take significant steps towards preventing lethal diseases transmitted through contaminated syringes in developed countries, a senior health official said.

The global network for injection safety is working regularly on providing the necessary precautions for the member states as well as the methods of injections safety especially in healthcare facilities.

Dr Amin Al Amiri, Executive Director for Medical Practices and Licenses at the Ministry of Health (MoH), said, “The initiative is aimed at facilitating such countries to protect their communities from viral diseases due to multi-usage of injection equipments. The initiative will contribute 50 per cent to the cost of providing safe syringes.”

“Charity will be raised to reduce such adverse health impacts through purchase of single use syringes in large quantities with competitive prices to be distributed worldwide,” he added.

“Health experts from 120 countries will participate in the WHO conference that will announce plans to provide financial support given to the region’s countries to use single syringes,” Dr Al Amiri said.

“Mechanisms will be developed to support safe use of injections under the supervision of the UAE. Global medicine and pharmaceutical establishments, banks, airlines and real estate firms [will be encouraged to lend support] for the region’s countries to pay 50 per cent of the injections’ values,” he elaborated.

“The prices of single used injections are equivalent to five times the prices of reusable injections. Under the UAE’s initiative, it will be possible to manufacture large quantities of these injections in the UAE with better prices, Dr Al AMiri pointed out.

Dr Selma Khamassi, Injection Safety and Related Infection Control Officer at the Secretariat of the WHO Headquarters in Geneva, said that the injection safety programme components included patient safety, health care providers' safety and the safety of the community.

“There are three major areas of concerns over the safety of injections worldwide, including reuse of equipment, unsafe collection and unsafe disposal. The adverse dangers associated with the unsafe injections are transmission of blood-borne pathogens like Hepatitis B and C, HIV or AIDS and hemorrhagic fever viruses,” she added.

Khamassi explained, “Up to 70 per cent of injections are unnecessary in some countries. About 21 million Hepatitis B infections are reported annually from unsafe injection practices, with 30 per cent new cases, two million Hepatitis C infections, 41 of them are new cases, and 260 000 HIV/AIDS infections, with 5 per cent of new cases.”

“About 16 billion needle injections, 40 per cent of which are with reused syringes, are administered on people in developing countries. The vast majority, estimated at 95 per cent, of these injections are used for curative care. Meanwhile, three per cent of the injections are vaccinations, and the remaining per cent is for blood transfusion purposes,” said the WHO statistics.

According to it, unsafe injections occur yearly in about 1.3 million death cases and cost an annual burden of 535 US million dollars in medical costs.

“Contaminated injections cause infections to 21.7 million people each year in developing countries. Estimated at 33 per cent, seven million people are died due to Hepatitis-B infection from contaminated syringes, and around two million people die from infection of Hepatitis-C annually,” indicated the WHO reports.

The transmission of HIV or AIDS virus through unsafe injections is two per cent, especially in South Asia.

The WHO is updating information on the best practices of safety injections and waste disposals, protection of health workers and infection control in all its forms.

Environment ministry warns erring vets

By PMA RASHEED

The Gulf Today, 1 Aug 2010

The UAE authorities are putting solid measures governing the practice of veterinary medicine in the UAE.

This move has been initiated as several vet clinics were found to be engaged in malpractices and were found to employ unlicensed veterinarians and non-specialists to work in their laboratories.

The Ministry of Environment and Water (MoEW) will further enforce the regulations in this regard on the 500 veterinary practitioners and technicians currently working in the country, according to a senior ministry official.

Mohammad Hassan Shamsi, Director of Livestock Development Department at the MoEW, said, "A total of 92 registered veterinary health facilities are currently operational across the country, carrying out therapeutic and diagnostic treatments for animals, including immunisation of animals and birds against infectious diseases."

"About 200 veterinary establishments, such as pharmaceutical firms and warehouses are also functioning in the country," he added.

Shamsi pointed out that the federal law No.10/ 2002 on veterinary practice strictly controls unlicensed vet professionals to employ veterinarians in such facilities.

"The candidates aspiring to practice as veterinary doctors should have a bachelor's degree in veterinary medicine and surgery from an internationally-approved university. They also should obtain a licence from the MoEW after undergoing eligibility tests," he elaborated.

"Expatriate candidates should have veterinary practising experience for a period of not less than five years to work as an independent veterinarian, while the experience criterion for Emiratis is two years," he noted.

Also, according to him, the ministry should be notified about the facility a vet works at. The vets also are not permitted to work in more than one clinic at the same time.

"If any animal is suspected of being infected with contagious disease, the veterinarian should immediately report the case to the ministry or concerned local authorities in the particular emirate," he pointed out.

"Necessary preventive measures should be taken within 24 hours, and the place and address of the animal's owner must be verified," added Shamsi.

"The veterinary doctor will be subject to legal action if he is found to cause any damage to an animal arising out of an error or technical inaccuracies in diagnosis and prescription of appropriate treatment," he added.

(Image used for illustrative purpose)

New law on transportation of livestock in UAE

By PMA RASHEED

The Gulf Today, 31 July 2010

A legislation governing the safe transportation of livestock in the UAE will be issued soon by the Ministry of Environment and Water (MoEW).

Aimed at further enforcing the existing laws and bylaws in regard to animal welfare in the country, the new regulation will specify implementation of separate methods of transportation for different types of animals, revealed the ministry sources.

The MoEW has urged various animal breeders and establishments in to the animal trade to strictly comply with the animal welfare regulations and implement additional measures to care the health of livestock.

As the temperatures continue at its peak levels, the ministry has intensified monitoring the establishments like animal farms, reproduction centres, and shops that sell domestic animals and pet fish and birds across the country to ensure their adherence to the laws.

According to a senior MoEW official, the veterinary clinics and hospitals, animal research institutes and zoos also should orientate their operations in line with the conditions for the animal protection and public health safety.

Mohammad Hassan Shamsi, Director of Livestock Development Department at the MoEW, said, “The legislation in the pipeline will strictly control livestock transportation means, with stringent punitive actions against offenders.”

“The regulation will outline the measures for their non-exposure to the soaring temperatures, and reducing chances of injuries or physical damages to the animals while transporting or loading or unloading them,” he added.

“The law also will require reduced speed of the transporting vehicles and as well as providing ample space considering the age, type, sex and behaviour of the animal,” said Shamsi.

He pointed out, “The federal of law No.16/2007 and the ministerial decree No. 384/2008 require the animal owners or breeders to provide the livestock with adequate quantities of safe food and drinking water, especially during the summer to prevent them from dehydration problems.”

According to him, the animal stables should be thoroughly clean and rid of harmful substances. Built with sufficient space, the stables also should give protection to the animals against erratic weather conditions.

“Perpetuating cruelty against animals, including unauthorised public exhibitions or competitions for commercial purposes like advertising and decoration, are also banned. Use of animals for scientific purposes without written permission from the environment ministry will also not be allowed,” Shamsi elaborated.

He also warned against trading or trafficking of sick, injured and unhealthy animals for human consumption, and mix of different types of meat.

“Illegal surgical and therapeutic interventions on the animals at veterinary health centres will also invite legal actions,” he added.

Shamsi asked the residents to buy animals only from markets authorised by the environment ministry, and not to opt for animals illegally traded by traffickers.