NEWS FROM THE UAE
SOURCE : THE NATIONAL

Salon visits reveal illegal use of lasers

ABU DHABI - FEB 07: Health inspectors have ordered the removal of dozens of cosmetic lasers and peelers from beauty parlours and barber shops that are not certified to operate the equipment.

The surprise inspection campaign, which began on January 18, found that as many as a quarter of the city’s more than 400 salons were using potentially risky anti-ageing devices that should be used only under supervision of a doctor or certified technician.

“Some of these special machines are for tattoos or whitening, some for peeling skin. Some should not be in a beauty salon at all,” said Khalifa al Rumaithi, the head of the health control section of Abu Dhabi Municipality. “Some of these machines belong in a clinic or a hospital. This is the reason we get shocked.”

Popular treatments such as laser hair-removal might be authorised at certain clinics, Mr al Rumaithi said, but salon customers might not understand the dangers such as burns and scarring that can occur without the presence of a certified professional on hand.

“We find this laser machine even in the men’s salon because some men don’t want to shave at the neck,” he said. “But unless it’s in a hospital or with a doctor’s care, this can be something very dangerous.”

Anti-ageing Intense Pulsed Light (IPL) lasers were also common in the shops although they were not sanctioned by health officials for use in salons, said Mohammed Osman, a senior analyst with the public health section.

Last week, officials of the Health Authority-Abu Dhabi said it would publish guidelines for beauty clinics that perform laser and other technical procedures.

Mr al Rumaithi described the improper use of cosmetic machines as a serious violation that could result in a fine of up to Dh10,000 (US$2,700). A repeat violation could result in a stiffer fine and closure of the business.

Minor infractions such as neglecting to sweep the floors between new customers at a barber shop could mean Dh200 fines.

Businesses found to be operating cosmetic machines improperly were given warnings to remove them from the shops.

“We covered these machines and said they cannot be used, and we give them, like, two days,” Mr al Rumaithi said. “We come back after and if the machine’s gone, then OK. If not, we get an order from the judge.

“You don’t go to a salon and there’s a man with a small piece of paper that says, ‘I took a course with this machine’,” he said. “Sometimes that’s not enough. You go and see the skin doctor and they say OK, your skin is strong enough to use this laser.”

Last week, Ahmed, a public health inspector for 15 years, issued a warning to a salon in the Tourist Club area after spotting an IPL laser apparatus.

“I asked him where’s the approval from the public health department? He said he just got it new from the catalogue,” said Ahmed, who asked for his last name not to be published. “He promised me he will remove that laser machine, so we’ll keep his number in the file and if the second time is like that, there will be a fine.”

As part of a three-week campaign begun last month to improve sanitary conditions at beauty centres, the municipality’s 40 public health inspectors and a team of analysts questioned business owners and collected swabs from towels, combs, razors and scissors.

The inspectors were nearing the end of the intensive campaign, and had so far issued warnings to 114 shops, Mr al Rumaithi said. Of those, 45 had since been cleared after correcting their mistakes and 55 cases had been transferred to the courts.

The most common complaints from salon customers are usually related to unhygienic practices, such as stylists reusing towels for multiple customers. Hair stylists, for instance, must keep scissors and combs under an ultraviolet light steriliser, but several shops were only using commercial light bulbs.

“That doesn’t give the same wavelength, so there’s no sterilising function,” said Mr Osman. “It’s just like decoration.”

In a bid to inform customers about what to look for in a properly managed salon, Mr al Rumaithi said information posters would be put up in barber shops and beauty parlours in the coming weeks.

He encouraged patrons to report any health risks by calling the municipality’s hotline at 993.

The public health section is recruiting Emirati inspectors and expects to have 28 new officials by next month, including additional female inspectors to check beauty parlours and women’s spas.

Abu Dhabi's street cats facing quick but illegal deaths

ABU DHABI - FEB 07:Despite an emirate-wide ban on killing healthy street cats, hundreds are being put down in Abu Dhabi every week.

The pest-control company AlphaMed is contracted by the Center of Waste Management-Abu Dhabi to trap cats and hand them over to veterinary clinics where they are subsequently killed, often within hours of their capture.

A report commissioned by the centre and prepared by Omar al Shoubaki, the contracts manager of AlphaMed, indicated that during a five-day period in December, 102 cats were trapped in various Abu Dhabi districts and delivered to Falcon Hospital. Ninety-eight were put down almost immediately.

Home vets have expressed concern that pets are being picked up in the sweeps and put to death before a stipulated two-week grace period is completed.

The law states that stray or lost animals “may be detained for care by any authorised person” or authority. The following conditions must be met: the animal must be detained in a suitable, healthy place and it must be provided with veterinary care.

Should the owner of the animal not appear within 14 days, the animal may be put down.

Other criteria for killing a stray animal include illness and lameness.

According to the AlphaMed report, which was given to The National by a source, the cats that were trapped were immediately put down.

Numerous calls and e-mails to the Center of Waste Management for clarification on why so many cats were killed went unanswered.

According to Fadi Daoud, a vet with the British Veterinary Clinic, if 100 street cats were randomly trapped, five or fewer would be suffering from an incurable disease or injury that would warrant a quick death. “The vast majority of street cats are healthy,” he said.

Amer Abu Abed, the deputy director of Falcon Hospital, refused to discuss the report.

“Things will be changing within a couple of weeks with the introduction of a new law banning the euthanising of street cats,” he said.

The new law is expected to be a total ban on killing the animals.

An AlphaMed representative who asked not to be identified said his company was contracted only to trap the cats and deliver them to Falcon Hospital.

“AlphaMed delivers the cats to Falcon where the decision is made on what to do with them,” he said. “AlphaMed should not be held responsible for what happens to the cats once they are delivered to Falcon.”

When asked what happens to the majority of cats trapped, he said: “They are euthanised.”

According to Raghad Auttabashi, an animal rights activist who supports a trap, neuter and release policy, it is cheaper to kill a cat than to treat and vaccinate it.

A “Criteria for Euthanasia” document given to the German Veterinary Clinic by Abu Dhabi Municipality, which was in charge of pest control until 2008, states that kittens under three months and cats over five years can be killed even if they are healthy.

Regarding end-term pregnant females, the document states: “It is better to keep alive until delivery.”

According to the document, cats that are found to be emaciated or dehydrated can also be killed, despite arguments that proper feeding and watering can revive them.

The municipality no longer handles street cats, but an animal rights activist said the criteria for their disposal are unchanged.

Jonathan Hale, the chief veterinarian at the British Veterinary Centre, has expressed concern that house pets have been caught up in the sweep for street cats since the Center for Waste Management took over pest-control duties.

“Over the past year there has been a massive increase in the number of pet cats gone missing,” he said.

Mohammed Hilal, a Jordanian vet in private practice, was shocked to learn that the criteria allowed the killing of kittens.

“The problem is that there’s no one supervising what happens to the cats,” he said.

“It’s all done quietly and secretly, and not humanely. Until recently, cats were being gassed to death.”

The Arabian Mau, native to the region, was the breed most often found on the streets of Abu Dhabi, said Petra Muller, the president of the Middle East Cat Society.

“With the expansion the UAE has seen in recent times, it is inevitable that man and cat are encroaching on one another’s space,” she said.

Nanny is out of coma and back home

ABU DHABI - FEB. 07: An Indonesian nanny who suffered severe brain injuries in a road accident that killed three of her Emirati employer’s children has returned home to continue her treatment after seven months in an Abu Dhabi hospital.

The nanny, NP, 24, took an Etihad Airways flight to Jakarta last week. She was on a stretcher and accompanied by a nurse from the hospital and Lely Meiliani, the first secretary at the Indonesian embassy.

The woman was treated at Zayed Military Hospital after a car hit her and the children near the Carrefour supermarket on Airport Road on June 29. She had worked for the family for 18 months.

The deaths of the three children Shaikha Salem al Mansouri, four, and her sisters Damayer, six, and Mariam, seven sparked The National’s Road to Safety campaign.

In December, embassy officials said that there was no hope for the woman to recover and they planned to bring two of her relatives to Abu Dhabi as a humanitarian gesture.

They had earlier feared that the transfer, which would require an eight-hour flight involving changes in air pressure and temperature, could put the patient at risk of further impairment.

“Now she’s getting better,” said Hannan Hadi, the head of the consular section at the embassy.

“She’s out of the coma and she could understand what we tell her. She cannot speak yet, but when asked simple questions, she communicated to us by blinking her eyes for ‘no’ and moving her head for ‘yes’.”

The embassy officials decided to repatriate NP to Indonesia, where she will be treated at Polri Hospital in Jakarta at the Indonesian government’s expense.

“This is a less-expensive option than transferring her to a private hospital here in Abu Dhabi,” Mr Hadi said.

Ms Meiliani said the latest medical report issued by the hospital showed that NP was declared fit to travel.

“It’s ideal for her to continue her treatment in Jakarta so she could be near her relatives,” she said.

“At the moment, we are not sure whether she will be transferred again to her region, which is central Java.”

Mr Hadi said the embassy was not expecting NP to recover fully. “The doctor had said that it was unlikely that she would return to her normal condition, even after being out of the coma,” he said.

He said the police and courts permitted the embassy to repatriate the woman but she had yet to receive compensation after the accident.

The driver of the car, an Emirati man, was arrested in connection with the accident.

“In August or September, we received a report from the public prosecution that he was sentenced to three months and he paid Dh300,000 (US$81,677) in blood money to the family of the three girls,” he said. “But we are only pursuing the civil aspect of this case.”

The civil case against the driver had to continue even after NP had been sent home, he said.

“Once we obtain the special power of attorney from her relatives in Indonesia, we will open a civil case and hire a lawyer to represent her in court,” he said.

Mr Hadi said NP’s former Emirati employer, Salem al Mansouri, was “very co-operative and helpful”.

“He personally ensured that her visa was cancelled and sent all her belongings to the embassy,” he said.

Two other Indonesian nannies, aged 22 and 24, who suffered minor injuries in the accident, are still working for their Emirati employer.

Last July, The National launched a campaign to make the UAE’s roads safer.

The campaign sought to analyse the causes of the UAE’s high traffic mortality rates and to bring about changes that protect drivers, passengers and pedestrians.

Various embassy officials in Abu Dhabi said careless driving, an ignorance of local rules and being in a hurry all contributed to the hundreds of expatriate deaths each year on the UAE’s roads.