UAE will have stricter rules and regulations when it comes to health related information on social media. Posting unauthorized health information on social media can put you in trouble .The government plans to regulate healthcare-related posts by non-professionals and unauthorized posts by health professionals, a top official said

The need for having better control over health-related posts on social media has arisen to prevent the misuse of social media in spreading wrong and harmful health messages, according to Dr Amin Hussain Al Amiri, Assistant Undersecretary for Public Health Policy and Licensing at the Ministry of Health and Prevention.

Speaking at the first Middle East Healthcare Social Media Summit in Dubai, Dr Al Amiri said social media can be misused by members of the public, including influencers from other fields and by healthcare professionals who post health information that are not under their purview.

He said the health ministry would be working with various authorities such as the Ministry of Interior, the UAE’s media authorities, and different departments to have guidelines to control potentially harmful health messages on social media.

He cited examples of healthcare professionals spreading information that is beyond their specialities also. “I shouldn’t announce anything out of my specialty unless it is general information,” he said. Some doctors spreading rumours about non-existing harmful effects of certain vaccines was cited as an example.

He provided some examples where misleading posts led to health issues for people who followed them. Those included the case of a newly-married woman burning her face after mixing three creams to whiten her face as advised by a fashionista on her social media pages.

The social media policy for health professionals will focus on ensuring that they are providing evidence-based information, he said.

The law on medical advertisement generally covers all the information that can be propagated by healthcare professionals and facilities.

“Probably with the involvement and expansion of social media, we need to update our laws.” The official said the public can contact the ministry’s hotline 80011111 to verify the correctness of health related social media posts.

The two-day summit organised by Mayo Clinic in collaboration with The Mohammed Bin Rashid University of Medicine and Health Sciences (MBRU) and American Hospital Dubai brought together healthcare providers and decision makers spanning various sectors to analyse the impact of social media on healthcare and chart the best way forward.