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The UAE Ministry of Community Development has launched 'Masarrah', a community card for Emirati citizens 60 years old and above, which offers them a variety of services and exclusive privileges.

Masarrah – meaning ‘happiness’ in Arabic – has been issued in co-operation with several federal and local government entities as well as private sector agencies to provide card holders with healthcare and household services, and easy access to government services as well as transport and municipal services.

The new card embodies the partnership and collaboration between the government and private sector agencies, which have extended total support in offering a variety of services and facilities to meet the needs of the elderly, said Najla bint Mohammad Al Awar, Minister of Community Development.

The Ministry of Community Development will work in co-operation with the Ministry of Health and Prevention to provide comfort, stability, healthcare and intensive care to the holders, and will meet their medical needs, in line with government’s continual efforts to provide the best necessary levels of care to the elderly.

Masarrah will also ensure that holders can make appointments on a priority basis as the ministry co-operates with Mediclinic, Noor Hospitals, Dubai Dental Hospital, RAK Private Hospital, Live Pharmacy, and Gillies Healthcare.

Card holders will also be exempt from certain requirements for sponsoring housemaids from the Ministry of Interior to ensure home-based care. It will help in mobile registration services for the elderly at the centres of the Emirates Identity Authority, as well as ensure private parking, priority in processing applications, and the provision of wheelchairs at all government service centres.

The cardholders will receive discounts while using public transport vehicles and taxis, in collaboration with the Department of Municipal Affairs and Transport in Abu Dhabi, RTA of Sharjah, the Public Transport Corporation in Ajman Transport Corporation, and Ras al-Khaimah Transport Authority.

Holders will also receive municipal services relating to agricultural maintenance, temporary work permits, certificate of infrastructure completion, applications for land settlement, road service and discount on parking.

Other services that Masarrah cards offer include discounts on shipping services provided by Aramex, as well as social support services from a large number of federal and local authorities and government bodies in the various emirates such as the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation, the Ministry of Interior, Fujairah Municipality, Family Development Foundation (Abu Dhabi), and the Social Services Department in Sharjah.

The initiative contributes towards strengthening integration among all stakeholders to create a strong infrastructure that enables the elderly to access all the facilities and benefits ranging from healthcare to social services.