The director general of the Dubai Health Authority announced on Thursday that construction work on the $19m Al Barsha Health Centre has been completed and will be operational by the end of the year.
Qadhi Saeed Al Murooshid said that the centre was located in Al Barsha 2 and had a built up area of 6,038m2. He added that it would serve approximately 60,000 people living in the vicinity.
“We recognise that primary healthcare is frontline healthcare, it is the first line of care for the members of our community and therefore it is our strategy to focus on further strengthening and developing primary healthcare centres. In 2011, we inaugurated two new health centres – the Nadd Al Hamar and Al Mizhar health centres and this year, the Al Barsha health centre will be operational for people living in its vicinity,” Al Murooshid said.
“It is our aim to add at least one new primary healthcare centre each year,” he added.
In 2011, across the 14 DHA primary healthcare centres, over 700,000 patients booked appointments across various specialities, including maternity and child care, AL Murooshid said.
“This number highlights the importance of primary healthcare for our community members. We consider PHC’s to be an integral part of our overall strategy for further developing healthcare in the Emirate,” he explained.
The initiative to add new healthcare centres and strengthen primary health care is as per the instructions and directions from Sheikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai and Sheikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai, UAE Minister of Finance and President of the Dubai Health Authority.
The DHA primary health care centres include Al Mamzar, Abu Hail, Al Qusais Al Twar Al Rashidiya , Al Khawaneej , Nadd Al Hammar, Al Mizhar , Al Safa , Al Mankhool , Al Lisaily, Al Barsha , Umm Suqeim, Al Bada’a and Nad Al Sheba health centre.