Bringing medicines to UAE? You need approval

Travellers now required to fill in electronic form that will be cleared in a day

All tourists and residents of UAE will now be required to fill in an electronic form to get approval to carry any kind of medication for personal use, said a top Ministry of Health and Prevention official. The Import of Personal Medication service was launched at Gitex.

The service is activated via the creation of a profile on the ministry’s website, followed by uploading of the required documents, which will be reviewed and approved within one working day. The form can be downloaded free of charge from the ministry’s website www.mohap. gov.ae. The medicines will be checked at the ports of entry.

Approvals for the medication are provided after submitting documents such as doctor’s prescription and passport details among other documents. Dr Ameen Hussain Al Amiri, Assistant Undersecretary for Licensing and Public Health Policy, told Gulf News: “We are doing this to control drug threats that hinder the economy and public health.”