UAE: Wearing lab coats in public banned
Staff Report
DUBAI - Practitioners of medical professions in the UAE are no longer allowed to wear laboratory coats outside medical institutions and medical schools, according to a circular issued by the Ministry of Health.
"Recently many practitioners of medical professions and medical students have been observed wearing the lab coats when they leave their work places or universities. This has become a show phenomenon at public places such as mosques, marketplaces, on TV interviews, conferences and others,” according to the circular by Dr. Amin Hussein Al Amiri, Assistant Under-Secretary of the Ministry for Public Health Policies and Licensing.
The move to ban the wearing of lab coats in public is aimed at curbing the spread of disease. According to studies and research, lab coats could transmit contagious diseases. The samples show that sleeves and pockets carry contagious germs.
