Emirati doctors free launch 'online advice' clinic

Five female Emirati doctors have launched a unique online clinic on Facebook to provide free medical advice to low-income patients in the UAE and prevent their manipulation by some health centres, a newspaper said on Saturday.

The facility, which was launched last week, is currently confined to dental treatment but it will be expanded to include other fields, Emarat Alyoum said.

The project was initiated by Dr Fawzieh Khalfan, a dental consultant and head of Jumeirah health centre, and other doctors at the centre, which is affiliated to the ministry of health, the Dubai-based Arabic language daily said.

“The facility is designed to serve low-income people and help them at home by offering advice when medical intervention is needed…this will ensure treatment programmes and prevent their manipulation by some doctors,” she said.

“Many people who fall ill do not realize their malady could be serious and think the symptoms they feel are simple and temporary….so they do not seek treatment and this could result in serious complications…for this reason, we launched this page on Facebook and called it ‘your smile.”

Fawzieh said four other doctors had joined her in the project, adding that they devote several hours of their time to respond to queries by patients every day.

She said some patients are asked to send their medical reports and X-ray images by e mail so the doctors can view their case and give the right advice.

“One week after this page is launched, many other doctors volunteered to join us…this has prompted plans to expand the page to include other medical fields.”

Fawzieh said the page was launched by minister of education Humaid al Qatami and was supported by acting health minister Abdul Rahman al Owais.

Follow Emirates 24|7 on Google News.