Unilabs to help screen travelers to the UAE for Covid-19, with 70-plus testing centres across Europe

Geneva, 18 August 2020: Unilabs, the leading European diagnostic services provider, has signed an agreement with Pure Health, the largest laboratory network in the Gulf countries council (GCC), to test airline passengers flying into the United Arab Emirates, in accordance with the UAE’s requirement for travelers to prove they are not infected with Covid-19. Pure Health has been appointed by the UAE’s Federal Authority for Identity and Citizenship to launch this pioneering project to promote safe travel.

“We are delighted to support Pure Health in their efforts to control the Covid-19 pandemic,” said Martin Schlatter, Unilabs’ Chief Commercial Officer. “As one of the largest European lab groups, we are ideally placed to successfully deliver this ambitious initiative, and we are grateful for the trust placed in us.”

Unilabs has already set up more than 70 collection centers across Europe, with an initial focus on the largest European air markets. The program is already up and running in France, the UK, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Slovakia, Switzerland, Czechia, Sweden, Denmark, the Netherlands, and Austria, with Germany, Norway, Finland, and Peru coming soon. In some markets, Unilabs works with local partners.

As testing ramps up, more collection centers and countries will be added.

“The UAE has entrusted Pure Health with safeguarding it against any incoming Covid-19 threats, worldwide. This responsibility requires us to ensure we only partner with verified and accredited facilities around the world. That is why we have partnered with Unilabs to ensure that the screening process is of the highest quality and to ensure an excellent customer service for the travelers,” said Pramodh B. N., Head of Commercial Operations ​at Pure Health.

The UAE recently issued regulations that require all travelers flying into the UAE to provide proof of a negative Covid-19 test. Travelers without such a certificate are refused entry onto the flight.

The system is similar to the ESTA process in the United States. The traveler visits screening.purehealth.ae, chooses a testing location, selects a time slot, and completes the test at the agreed time and place. Test results are then transmitted to the UAE authorities, who use the data to cross-check arriving travelers against the border control database.

Media contact:

Alistair Hammond, Director of Communications

e: Alistair.Hammond@unilabs.com

t: +44 771 773 0441

Media contact:

Mohamed Mostafa, Head of Marketing and PR

e: mohamed.mostafa@purehealth.ae

t: +971 559 067891

About Unilabs

Unilabs is one of Europe’s largest diagnostics companies. It offers a complete range of laboratory, pathology and imaging services for patients all around the world. With 12,700 employees across 150 imaging centres and 250 labs in 17 countries, we perform more than four million lab tests a week – saving lives every single day.  

About Pure Health

Pure Health operates the largest network of laboratories in the GCC and a healthcare solutions provider dedicated to “Empowering Healthcare” and making the business of healthcare run better. We partner with payers, hospitals, integrated healthcare systems, healthcare suppliers, the federal government and others across the spectrum of care to build healthier organizations that deliver better care to patients in every setting. The company also supports the growing diagnostic industry by supplying medical products to clinical laboratories and operates the nation’s largest network of laboratories. Pure Health helps its customers improve their financial, operational and clinical performance with solutions that include supply chain management, and clinical services, through customized solutions. For more details, please log on to https://purehealth.ae