Investigation Reveals Foreign Workers in UAE Face Challenges Accessing Healthcare

A press investigation has uncovered that foreign workers in the UAE are facing challenges in accessing healthcare, especially during a time when significant flooding has created ideal conditions for mosquito breeding, leading to an increase in disease among many workers.

According to the investigation published by the British website Middle East Eye, a prolonged dengue outbreak following severe floods in the UAE disproportionately affects low-income migrant workers.

In April, the UAE recorded up to 254 mm of rain in less than 24 hours, the highest level since records began in 1945. This led to the deaths of at least five people and damage to homes, businesses and infrastructure.

The floods also left pools of stagnant water, creating a breeding ground for mosquitoes that spread dengue fever, a viral infection transmitted from insects to humans. Its symptoms include body aches, vomiting, nausea, and swollen glands.

According to a report issued by the non-governmental organization “Fair Square,” the UAE authorities neglected mosquito breeding sites in some areas inhabited by migrant workers, which led to residents becoming seriously ill and making it difficult to access health care.

In May, UAE authorities advised residents to steer clear of stagnant water resulting from floods and to apply mosquito repellents, following a rise in hospital admissions due to fever and body aches. While dengue typically leads to mild symptoms, it can occasionally result in more severe cases.

To prevent the spread of mosquitoes, the UAE deployed nine specialized teams to eliminate 409 mosquito breeding sites.

But pools of stagnant water remained until late June in areas with high populations of migrant workers, including Dubai, Sharjah, Ajman and Ras Al Khaimah.

A migrant worker in Sonapur, a Dubai neighborhood home to 200,000 migrant workers, said floodwaters remained there for weeks after the floods.

“The large roads were urgently cleared but areas like this have been suffering from stagnant water for a very long time and now there are mosquitoes and all kinds of insects everywhere,” the worker stated.An Indian construction worker shared with Fair Square that he fell seriously ill in May. His company recommended that he rest and take painkillers, but he didn’t see the need to visit a hospital.

“I experienced a high fever and body aches,” he recalled. “Then I began vomiting frequently and couldn’t get out of bed for nearly twenty days. I wasn’t alone in this; there were at least six or seven others who felt the same way.”

In Ajman, a Pakistani woman with limited health insurance fell ill with dengue fever weeks after the floods.

“I was feeling very sick,” she said. My body was burning… I asked my employers for some money so I could go to a better private clinic because I was feeling so bad, but they said it was all an illusion and that I should rest.”

“They were acting like they were doing me a favor by letting me rest,” she said.

Meanwhile, a Ugandan security guard said his employer locked him in a room with five sick colleagues who were suffering from a rash, fever, body aches, and vomiting.

He said the employers did not take the situation seriously and contacted government authorities only after the workers said they wanted to return to their home countries.

Municipal officials then sent medical experts who advised the workers to rest and go to the hospital if they were particularly ill.

James Lynch of Fair Square said: “It is clear that certain areas of the country have been neglected in the response, particularly in terms of water disinfection.”

He mentioned that “deep structural factors” play a role in the challenges immigrant communities face in accessing healthcare, such as relying on employers for medical insurance and information.

He added that while some employers had good policies, it was actually a “lottery.”

Lynch emphasized that “UAE authorities need to explore ways to ensure workers can access healthcare equally, independent of their employers. The most effective approach is to provide free access to healthcare at the point of delivery.”

Dengue fever, which is most prevalent in tropical regions, is increasingly spreading globally, in part due to climate change.