• DHA offers multi-disciplinary care for people with disabilities

  • 'Swimming wheelchair' by Dubai Municipality, DEWA's Ash'ir video chat using sign language a big draw

  • RTA displays communication and information tools for people with disability

  • DED to provide consultancy for people with disabilities on starting new business

  • GDRFA Dubai offers easy access to Smart Gates, free Smart Gate registration

  • CDA showcases Smart App Family

  • Dubai Customs exempts duty on goods for people with disabilities

Dubai, February 11, 2016

Smart Gates for people with disabilities, smart apps to facilitate ease of communication, call centre to handle complaints in sign language, mobile therapy unit to attend to those with disability, robotic-assisted device

for patients with physical and neurological disability, video chat using sign language and swimming chair for people with disability were among a few of the initiatives showcased by the Government Departments at AccessAbilities Expo 2016.

The Expo, being organised under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, President of Dubai Civil Aviation Authority, Chairman of Dubai Airports, Chairman and Chief Executive of Emirates Airline and Group, has a strong support from government bodies including Dubai Health Authority (DHA), Dubai Municipality, Road and Transport Authority (RTA), Department of Economic Development (DED) in Dubai, Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA), General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs (GDRFA) in Dubai, Community Development Authority (CDA) and Dubai Customs.

AccessAbilities Expo is organised by Reed Exhibitions Middle East and Nadd AlShiba PR and Event Management.

Daniyal Qureshi, Group Exhibition Director, Reed Exhibitions, Middle East, said: "Strong support from the government departments across the UAE to the AccessAbilities Expo reflects their keenness to implement new technology to enhance lives of individuals with disabilities. It is also an opportunity for people to learn about these services and benefit from these."

The Dubai Health Authority (DHA) displayed new products and technologies for people with disabilities.

The services include medical rehabilitation, nursing, physiotherapy, occupational therapy, speech and language therapy, hydrotherapy, orthotics, social care, psychological care, clinical nutrition, pharmacy, laboratory and emergency medicine for patients of the centre.

Dr Suad Trebinjac, Director of the Dubai Physiotherapy and Rehabilitation Centre, said the centre provides multi-disciplinary care and has various services available for people with disabilities at the centre.

Trebinjac said that the centre has recently acquired an advanced robotic-assisted device for patients with physical and neurological limitations.

"The system is the world's most advanced robotic-assisted device in gait rehabilitation. It will enhance the progress of gait training for our patients of all ages with physical and neurological limitations. More than 75 patients at the centre will immediately benefit from the introduction of this device, of these several are children."

The robotic-assisted device allows patients to regain their ability to walk in less time when compared to conventional therapy approaches and is the only device that offers the unique feature of realistically simulating climbing stairs and can be operated by one therapist only.

The device stimulates the action of walking and climbing stairs. The device has an augmented reality feature so that patients can select forest or beach trails while performing their physiotherapy sessions. It also has interactive games so that children enjoy their physiotherapy. He said the introduction of this device is aimed at helping patients recover mobility and their independency in daily living.

Dubai Municipality's 'swimming wheelchair' for the elderly and people with disabilities, launched earlier as a community initiative, was a huge draw.

The civic body will make catalogues in Braille language to support customers with visual disability. The other services include audio tapes, sound alarm system and provision of two trained support staff members to help its customers with disabilities. Electronic doors compatible with the needs of people with disabilities at the entrance of the centres and special counters with low height will be provided in addition to the wheelchair service.

A Dubai Municipality employee said two trained staff will be deployed at the municipality service centres to assist and support customers with disabilities.

For those with hearing disability, the municipality will provide two staff members trained in sign language. iPads will be provided to show the hearing-impaired customers, procedures related to service applications and important documents needed for that. An alarm system including red lights to inform the customer in case of any untoward happening will also be available in civic body centres.

Road and Transport Authority (RTA) displayed communication and information tools for people with disability including  tactile guiding pathways to help customers with visual disability to reach the metro, a smart system that assist people with disability in booking a taxi through touch and  voice screens, with option to change screen colours to match those of people with visual disability. RTA gives special attention to people having disabilities and all means of mass transportation from the metro, buses to water/marine transport and taxis have been designed to meet the needs of the disabled.

Department of Economic Development (DED) displayed special counters for ease of access and is planning to introduce training and consultancy services to open new business for people with disabilities.

DED's frontline staff is well equipped to deal with persons with disabilities, and have been trained in sign-language and trained staff assists people having disabilities at all customer service centers.

Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) showcased Ash'ir (Arabic for 'to signal'), service that enables people to communicate in sign language directly to DEWA's call centre staff via a live video chat. The service is available on Dewa's smart app on iOS and Android, which offers over 150 services and features round the clock.

Ahmed Al Harthi, from Dewa Customer Service Center, said Dewa, in collaboration with the Community Development Authority (CDA) in Dubai, recently graduated the first group of its customer service staff on using sign language to prepare them for the Ash'ir service to help people with hearing and speech disabilities. Another group is currently undergoing training on live video chatting using sign language.

Dewa has also launched the 'Absher Initiative' that includes a dedicated team of specialists and qualified staff in human resources, in addition to a hotline, to provide guidance to employees with special needs, and assist them with their paperwork.

GDRFA-Dubai showcased the entire package of new smart services aimed at helping passengers and customers with disabilities. GDRFA also provided free Smart Gate registration at the Expo.

Captain Salem Bin Ali, Manager of Amer Customer Care Section, GDRFA in Dubai said special dedicated counters are installed in at all terminals of Dubai Airports, including Al Maktoum Airport, to help people with disabilities. The department has 19 employees with disabilities.

The GDRFA-D has launched Al Manar Forum to highlight the capabilities of people with visual disability and ways to deal with them through set instructions. The objectives of the Forum include educating the UAE community to deal with people with visual disability in the right way, highlighting the capabilities and accomplishments of the individuals with visual disability.

Bin Ali said the department has set up special counters and made dedicated arrangements at the entrances, smart gates and e-gates for the benefit of passengers with disabilities.

"We also installed facilities for easy communication."

Community Development Authority (CDA) unveiled its Smart App Family including Sanad mobile therapy Unit, Sanad RV App and Sanad Relay Centre and a lot more at the Expo.

The mobile therapy unit is designed and equipped to provide early detection and early intervention therapy services to children. To make the access to the mobile units easier and smarter, the CDA has launched CDA Sanad RV App, a dedicated free app that can be downloaded from Apple store or Google Play. The app allows the users to learn about the activities and news of the mobile units and book appointments.

Sanad Relay Centre and app services facilitate communication between the CDA and individuals with hearing disability through video calls by CDA's sign language experts.

Reading for All, is another concept at CDA stand, a corner promoting the importance of providing knowledge access, to people with disabilities. Braille and audio library is available to highlight the need to give people with vision impairment access to knowledge.

Khaled Al Kamda, Director General, CDA, said that it is very important to have a common platform that gathers all the stakeholders concerned about disability services.

CDA also presented Sanad Card, launched last year, to have a complete record of people with disabilities in Dubai and learn about their needs. When completed, Sanad Card record will be a base to any new services or programmes designed for people with disabilities.

Shaikha Dr. Alya Al Qasmi, Deputy CEO, Development and Social Care Sector in CDA, said that having accurate information about the needs of the people with disabilities in Dubai will allow the development of the correct services that meet these needs. "We also need to have the highest level of coordination between the stakeholders, we expect that AccessAbilites Expo will give us a chance for further cooperation and partnerships," she said.

Dubai Customs provides many services for the disabled, beginning with its headquarters which is disability friendly, with ease of accessibility to the building, along with dedicated parking slots near the main entrance. The Dubai Customs also has employees with disabilities in different departments.

A working group of Dubai Customs with different departments is involved in field visits to other entities to view the best international practices in the field of disability services. The Dubai Customs exempts goods and materials used by people with disabilities from customs duties in accordance with the Law. As a mark of support to people with disabilities, the department has demarcated dedicated parking lots for persons with disabilities at 26 of its operations offices in Dubai.

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© Press Release 2016