UAE says flu vaccine no protection against A(H1N1)

The UAE Ministry of Health has issued a circular to heads of medical zones as well as all private medical institutions warning against taking advantage of the public by dispensing seasonal flu vaccine claiming that it gives immunity against the Influenza A(H1N1) virus, also known as swine flu.

The ministry's executive director for medical practice and licencing Dr Amin Hussein Al Amiri said "prescribing and dispending the seasonal flu vaccine while claiming that it works against the H1N1 virus is clear violation of medical rules and ethics and its sole aim is making financial gains without considering the interest of the patient or the medical rules for prescribing and dispensing a medicine." The Ministry's circular instructed all private medical institutions to abstain from taking such misleading H1N1 procedures.