The UAE’s Health Minister has issued a Ministerial Decision on declaring death
- 30/05/201711/12/2019
- by Benjamin Filaferro
The UAE’s Health Minister has issued a Ministerial Decision on declaring death. Ministerial Decision No. 550/2017 covers death resulting from cardiac-respiratory arrest, death from complete loss of brain functions and pediatric brain death guidelines. It was introduced after a national committee made up of all local health authorities prepared the latest Decision together with the General Authority for Islamic Affairs and Endowments. There was considered to be an urgent need to enact legislation on the declaration of death to protect hospitals and enable doctors to stop the suffering of brain-dead patients. The Decision aims to reinforce Federal Decree-Law No. 5/2016 and Federal Decree-Law No. 4/2016. It differentiates between declarations of death resulting from cardio-respiratory arrest and death resulting from complete loss of brain functions. This is intended to be a guide for hospitals, especially for those with intensive care units. Brain death is defined as an irreversible cessation of all functions of all parts of the brain. The conditions and exceptions for the declaration of brain death, including proper diagnosis through clinical preliminary examination are laid out.