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Department of Health adopts Unified Electronic Platform for narcotic drugs and controlled medicines
16 Jun, 2019: Department of Health—Abu Dhabi (DoH), the regulator of the healthcare sector in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, held a series of training workshops for DoH-licensed physicians and pharmacists which sought to highlight the latest developments related to the Unified Electronic Platform for dispensing narcotic drugs and controlled medicines. The workshops, which were held over the course of two weeks, targeted healthcare professionals licensed by the DoH. The workshops were supplemented by several discussions held between a number of representatives from private healthcare facilities operating in the Emirate to engage in the integration of their existing electronic systems into the new platform. During the meetings, the DoH showcased the means available to facilitate the integration process and provided solutions to the challenges that healthcare facilities may face during the transition to the new platform.
To date, the Unified Electronic Platform has been successfully adopted by all government health facilities operating under Abu Dhabi Health Services Company (SEHA) in addition to Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi.
Dr. Khaled Al Jaberi, Director, Healthcare Licensing & Medical Education Division at DoH said: "The Department of Health is gearing up to initiate the final stage of the full integration to the Unified Electronic Platform across all healthcare facilities licensed by the DoH. The emirate-wide implementation will ensure that no paper prescriptions for narcotic drugs and controlled medicines will be accepted at any outpatient facilities upon completion of the integration to the Unified Electronic Platform which goes into effect on July 1, 2019.”
The UAE Ministry of Interior has spearheaded the initiative to develop the Unified Electronic Platform for the prescription and dispersal of controlled and narcotic drugs at the level of the State in cooperation with the Ministry of Health as well as local departments and government bodies such as the DoH, which has played a key role in the process thus far.
Al Jaberi added: “The main objective of the Unified Electronic Platform is to ensure greater control over the prescription and dispersal of narcotic drugs and controlled medicines, with a view to reduce the abuse of illegal drugs amongst the community and to promote the safety of their use to their intended beneficiaries only. The new platform will also reduce inefficiencies caused by the loss of paper prescriptions in addition to ensuring accurate tracking of prescriptions and dispersal of drugs and controlled medicines at the state level.”
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Last updated: 25 Apr 2025
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