| IMAP spreads news on DOH policy strengthening respect for Muslims’ hijab (veil) |
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| by MindaNews | |
| Tuesday, 30 June 2009 05:22 | |
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DAVAO CITY (MindaNews/30 June) – The Islamic Medical Association of the Philippines (IMAP) has sent a letter to Moro groups to help them disseminate information about a Department of Health memorandum “strengthening the protection of religious rights of Muslim workers, including but not limited to students and trainees in health facilities.”
The DOH Memorandum 2009-0107 signed by Health Secretary Francisco Duque on April 29, was in response to a call of the IMAP on the plight of Muslim workers, students and trainees in the hospital “wherein certain policies and practices infringe on their religious practices.” The IMAP had said there has been an “alarming number reports of Muslim healthcare workers, students and trainees in hospitals and other healthcare institutions that they were asked to remove their veils (hijab) while on duty.” Dr. Sherjan P. Kalim, Vice President and Chair, Committee on External Relations of the Islamic Medical Association of the Philippines, has sent a letter to Moro groups to help them “disseminate this to all hospitals, nursing and medical schools, and schools for allied health professions.” “We are asking you to forward this to hospital administrators, chief nurses and other health professionals concerned,” Kalim said. The DOH memorandum states that all healthcare institutions, public and private, should “review and ensure that their policies are sensitive to the religious rights of healthcare workers, students and trainees.” The DOH urged healthcare institutions to observe the following: Muslim female workers “should be allowed to use their veil (hijab) and wear their prescribed mode of dressing insider the premises of all healthcare institutions, especially, in areas such as the wards, operating room, intensive care units and burn units, among others.” “However, this mode of dressing can be modified to conform to the prescribed uniform of health institution in accordance with its rules and regulations concerning infection control and aseptic techniques but still observing the religious rights of Muslim workers.” In special areas where sterility must be maintained at all the following policies shall be adopted: “Veils must be treated equal to the hair; freshly laundered; covered by a surgical cap over it, if no spare is available; worn neatly and changed when going out of the assigned area; and its dangling portion must be tucked in at least to the outer garment,” the memo states. The outer garment (uniform) must be “loose and not fitting to the body; length of the blouse must be at least just above the knee, with a loose long pants; sleeves must be at least two-thirds arm length rolled up to mid-arm so that the edge will not be soiled during hand washing and scrubbing respectively; and freshly laundered.” (MindaNews) Share this story through the following Social Media sites:            |
