How Dubai Health Authority won the COVID-19 battle

Suchitra Chaudhary | Senior Reporter

COVID-19 was the ultimate test of the capabilities of Dubai Health Authority (DHA). Looking back now, it is safe to say the health regulator came out with flying colours.

For a department that had to swing into action at the very onset of the pandemic, the DHA had a huge responsibility. As Dr Alawi Al Sheikh Ali, Deputy Director of DHA, pointed out, it was all about orchestrating multi-pronged facets into a single cohesive whole.

He said the national strategy of the UAE had adapted and moulded a dynamic scenario in close coordination with other stakeholders. “It required alignment, support and coordination by everybody in the public and private sector. It had to be a community and government approach that worked.”

He explained: “We at DHA planted some basic pillars of public health policies to control the pandemic. These included fundamental public health and epidemiological principles of social distancing, wearing face masks etc. For those who had been in contact with COVID-19 positive patients, facilities for quarantine and isolation had to be set up to contain the spread of COVID-19 and make PCR testing facilities available. We had to lay out proper guidelines on how to handle cases. For those who were unfortunate enough to get the disease, we had to make sure the health care system was ready with treatment protocols, depending on the severity of infection, and enable people to recover as soon as possible.”

With the global situation constantly changing, DHA had to keep abreast of them and come up with definite treatment protocols as per the latest medical developments. “We had to constantly augment our health care capacity, bed availability and various levels of care, besides the logistical management of medicines and health care workers,” Dr Alawi said.

According to Dr Alawi, DHA’s ability to respond quickly made a huge difference. “What helped in our response to the pandemic in DHA and Dubai, in particular, was the speed and agility with which DHA and other government entities made and implemented the decisions,” he said.

Leadership that cares

He attributed the speed of decision making to wise leadership at various levels. “I think the caring leadership made the real difference. If you think about it, the virus and the disease were pretty much the same in every country. They were a constant, but how countries responded to them varied. This variation in response was what explained the difference in how each country fared. The social, economic and political contexts differed from country to country. But one thing that was equally applicable and critical in any country’s response was the display of leadership.”

Dr Alawi said the UAE’s leadership is very proactive. “This includes the leadership at the top governmental level, at the public sector regional level, heads of various sections, hospitals and health care centres. Everyone worked in close tandem.”

“Here I would like to refer to a recent tweet of His Highness Shaikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of UAE and Ruler of Dubai. He tweeted about the difference between managing a crisis and a crisis in management. The former creates opportunities and the latter results in losses. The disease can cost lives and livelihoods but our response should not add to the high cost. Our leadership was dynamic and agile, caring and conscious of the latest scientific developments; we trusted science and as the science on pandemic management evolved, we adapted to it. We weren’t intimidated by changing medical research.”

Through the entire pandemic, Dr Alawi said what stood out was the leadership of the UAE government which demonstrated that it cared about its people. “In the last one year, we got to see what disease can do to people, but we also got to see what the right response could do.”

The financial factor

There were other factors too that played a crucial role. Commenting on the finances, he said the government not only got health insurance on board to cover the pandemic but also eased the financial burden on hospitals by footing the bill for hospital treatment for both Emiratis and expatriates in Dubai. The UAE government also offered free-of-charge vaccination to all residents.

Dr Alawi attributed this magnanimous role of the government to the benevolence of the leadership. “The financial strategy deployed by the government in meeting the challenge also goes to show that the leadership cares about the people. We at DHA simply executed the will of the government. It was the right thing to do, and a wise, sensible decision to include nationals and residents alike from a public health standpoint. In case of a public health threat, one cannot say we will cover only one section of society. Everyone needs to be protected; you are as safe as the least safe person.”

The vaccine turning point

Dr Alawi described the introduction of vaccines as the turning point in the battle against COVID-19. “While our medicine and treatment protocols were tools we optimised in the early phases of the pandemic, vaccines became the major tool later, changing the dynamics of the battle,” he said, commending the willingness of the people in coming forward to take the vaccines.

“It is not enough to introduce the vaccine but for people to take it. It does not benefit us if there is no uptake from the community. The community played a major role in believing in the vaccine and coming forward to take it. Today, Dubai and the UAE are some of the most vaccinated communities in the world and that is what has made it possible for us to recover and slowly get back to a normal life,” he said.

The official said DHA is working with other arms of the government to streamline health care being mindful of having to open up the community gradually. “It is important that we balance our lives with livelihood. DHA has made sure we strike the right balance and can move ahead. We have made sure the health system is ready to take on the challenge so that the society is safe and protected.”

Going forward

He said the COVID-19 battle is ongoing and how often people will require to be vaccinated is a decision that will be guided by science. “The first dose was given when science guided us. It was the same principle that was extended to the second dose and all doses after that. Our decision on frequency on vaccination will be guided by science.”

Dr Alawi said the focus for DHA and the government is to make sure that people who live here have access to the vaccine. What about the vaccine for those on visit visas? The official said it’s “not the right time for as long as residents need it”.

“This is true from a global health standpoint, any country in the world is as safe from the pandemic as the least safe country. Each country has therefore to work on achieving fully vaccinated status. That will make the global community safe and prevent the emergence of future variants. The discussion should be around making vaccines available to as many people as possible, in each community in each country. That will make the global community safe,” he said.

Dr Alawi said: “Things have been moving in the right direction so far. The way forward in this battle for us is to maintain the gains we have achieved through vaccination uptake and focus on pushing the vaccination campaign in the small section which is yet to get vaccinated. We need to follow the science on the need for future vaccines and be vigilant about the emergence of future variants. We must also ensure our health system as a whole remains vigilant against any unexpected scenarios. We remain very optimistic about the outcomes. I think the worst is over.”