Dubai: The UAE Ministry of Health and Prevention (MoHAP) has stressed that eradicating hepatitis has been and will continue to be a top priority for the country’s health system.
Marking World Hepatitis Day on July 28, the Ministry noted that the occasion offers a crucial opportunity to raise public awareness about the disease as well as familiarise people with the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment methods to confront hepatitis, reduce the risk of infection and transmission. MoHAP adopted a national program to battle the disease, a combined effort by the government and private healthcare sectors to reinforce control measures and ensure the continuity of productive initiatives.
The Ministry of Health is committed to providing healthcare professionals with the latest disease diagnosis protocols and formulating comprehensive plans to prevent transmission. We aim to broaden the reach of testing, care, and treatment services while enforcing robust policies to mitigate its spread, integrating the most current global treatment practices into our approach.
Dr. Hussain Abdul Rahman Al Rand, Assistant Under-Secretary for the Public Health Sector, shared.
“In line with the ministry’s commitment to achieving the World Health Organisation’s objective of eradicating hepatitis by 2030, the hepatitis B vaccine has been included in the National Immunisation Programme’s basic vaccination requirement since 1991. This proactive approach, taken to combat an infectious disease that can lead to acute and chronic infections, has placed the UAE at the forefront in the region to adopt such preventative measures,” Dr. Al Rand added.
MoHAP has implemented several comprehensive measures to counter hepatitis, including raising awareness, vaccinating travellers and healthcare workers, and instituting hepatitis B and C screenings for those at greatest risk.
This is in addition to implementing screenings during premarital check-ups, residency tests, and occupational health evaluations across the country. Furthermore, the Ministry is intensifying its efforts to meet the objectives of the global strategy to eradicate viral hepatitis by 2030.