Female Muslim medics 'disobey hygiene rules'

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

Muslim medical students are refusing to obey hygiene rules brought in to stop the spread of deadly superbugs, because they say it is against their religion.

Women training in several hospitals in England have raised objections to removing their arm coverings in theatre and to rolling up their sleeves when washing their hands, because it is regarded as immodest in Islam.

Universities and NHS trusts fear many more will refuse to co-operate with new Department of Health guidance, introduced this month, which stipulates that all doctors must be "bare below the elbow".

The measure is deemed necessary to stop the spread of infections such as MRSA and Clostridium difficile, which have killed hundreds.

Minutes of a clinical academics' meeting at Liverpool University revealed that female Muslim students at Alder Hey children's hospital had objected to rolling up their sleeves to wear gowns.

Similar concerns have been raised at Leicester University. Minutes from a medical school committee said that "a number of Muslim females had difficulty in complying with the procedures to roll up sleeves to the elbow for appropriate handwashing".

Sheffield University also reported a case of a Muslim medic who refused to "scrub" as this left her forearms exposed.

Documents from Birmingham University reveal that some students would prefer to quit the course rather than expose their arms, and warn that it could leave trusts open to legal action.

Hygiene experts said last night that no exceptions should be made on religious grounds.

Dr Mark Enright, professor of microbiology at Imperial College London, said: "To wash your hands properly, and reduce the risks of MRSA and C.difficile, you have to be able to wash the whole area around the wrist.

"I don't think it would be right to make an exemption for people on any grounds. The policy of bare below the elbows has to be applied universally."

...

But the Islamic Medical Association insisted that covering all the body in public, except the face and hands, was a basic tenet of Islam.

"No practising Muslim woman - doctor, medical student, nurse or patient - should be forced to bare her arms below the elbow," it said.

...

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml...3/nislam403.xml

[Alex+R 0]

Doesn't this religion have any sort of provisions like... I don't know... if you're saving lives, you can roll up your dayum sleeves? Orthodoxy without reflecting on context, blech.

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[Hilarious Clinton 452]

Dear medical personnel,

Wash your ####### hands!!!

EOM

[gwen75 0]

i've read somewhere that Muslim women in western countries are sometimes much more observant and strict with themselves than women in the middle east.

i think that if you have chosen the medical profession, it is clearly to help others

but if your religious beliefs might potentially harm patients and you refuse to comply with the hospital's rules, then you have no right to be in that profession, what's the point?

dont they take the Hippocratic oath in the UK?

[HLM 1]

i'm a practicing muslim and they re right concerning uncovering their arms... but hygiene is a very critical thing!!! theres no compromising when it comes to it!!!!! so they shudnt have chosen this field {may its surgical or so} since they knew this step is essential /....they shud choose another field.

[Sofiyya 1,687]

I'm a Muslima, and I know that being clean and hygenic is also a tenet of Islam; spreading disease is not. Idiocy is also against the faith. Women roll back their sleeves 5 times a day to wash before prayer. There is no excuse one can make for not doing so before treating patients. Islam is a faith that calls on us to think and reason, but, it's a sad fact that too many Muslims are unreasonable and unthinking when it comes to the simplist things.

Edited February 3, 2008 by Virtual wife

[junglee069 0]

....maybe they can ask everyone to look the other way when they are washing their hands if they're so persistent about the matter.

it sure beats not washing your hands..

the UK has some really f'ed up issues in their muslim communities.

[Hilarious Clinton 452]

....maybe they can ask everyone to look the other way when they are washing their hands if they're so persistent about the matter.

it sure beats not washing your hands..

the UK has some really f'ed up issues in their muslim communities.

What's the point if they just roll their dirty sleeves back down?

[Fandango 1,439]

What's more disturbing than these individual women, is the IMA backing the choice...

[Ban Hammer 12,901]

[polarbear 0]

The problem by the health department seems to be that you need to be able to wash the "whole area around the wrist".... come on ladies.... I'm a muslima and I can wash the area around my wrist without exposing myself... and really, if you think about it, it is a necesity and either your willing to tell everyone to give you a little privacy when scrubing in, or choice another medical profession that will allow you to do it in your own time in privacy. I know many nurses and family doctors that don't have a problem finding a way.

[sereia 0]

I'm a Muslima, and I know that being clean and hygenic is also a tenet of Islam; spreading disease is not. Idiocy is also against the faith. Women roll back their sleeves 5 times a day to wash before prayer. There is no excuse one can make for not doing so before treating patients. Islam is a faith that calls on us to think and reason, but, it's a sad fact that too many Muslims are unreasonable and unthinking when it comes to the simplist things.

Well put!!!

[indianheart 2]

There is a dress code in the hospital setting for a reason. One of the dirtiest places, people are there because they are sick, harboring all kinds of bugs. I am in the medical profession and have seen too many people slowly easten to death my flesh eating bacteria that are resistant to anitbiotics (like MRSA). This has nothing to do with religious discrimination but lack of good common sense.

[bgreed 0]

If they don't want to follow the rules for whatever reason boot their ### out!