http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2008/02/03/nislam403.xml
By Julie Henry and Laura Donnelly
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."
Dr Charles Tannock, a Conservative MEP and former hospital
consultant, said: "These students are being trained using
taxpayers' money and they have a duty of care to their patients not
to put their health at risk.
"Perhaps these women should not be choosing medicine as a career
if they feel unable to abide by the guidelines that everyone else
has to follow."
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.
Dr Majid Katme, the association spokesman, said: "Exposed arms
can pick up germs and there is a lot of evidence to suggest skin is
safer to the patient if covered. One idea might be to produce long,
sterile, disposable gloves which go up to the elbows."