DHA Medical Advertising Rules in Dubai: What Clinics Can and Cannot Say Online

Who the DHA advertising rules apply to

The Dubai Health Authority (DHA) regulates how licensed health facilities and healthcare professionals in Dubai promote their services. Its Standards for Medical Advertisement Content on Social Media apply to clinics, hospitals and individual doctors, and also to influencers who promote a facility's services, treatments or results.

In Abu Dhabi the Department of Health (DOH) sets the rules, and in the northern emirates the Ministry of Health and Prevention (MOHAP). This guide covers Dubai; the principles are similar elsewhere, but check your own regulator.

Words and claims the DHA does not allow

The DHA standards ban absolute, exaggerated and alarming language. Words and phrases named in the standards and in DHA announcements include:

• "Unique", "one of a kind", "exclusive", "the only" and "incomparable".
• "The best", "the safest" and "best product".
• "Magic", "miraculous" and "unprecedented".
• "Assured success", "guaranteed", "100%", "no side effects" and "immediate results".
• "Very limited" and similar pressure tactics.
• Fear-based messages that alarm people into booking, and claims that one doctor is superior to others.

How to rewrite common claims

Most banned claims can be replaced with a factual statement that is more convincing to patients anyway:

Before-and-after photos and patient testimonials

Before-and-after images are allowed only if they are unedited, taken in the same conditions (for example, with the same lens), and published with the patient's written consent. In September 2026 the DHA warned aesthetic clinics of disciplinary action over edited social media images.

Photos, videos and testimonials that show patients also need documented written consent. Keep the signed consent with the patient record so you can produce it if asked.

Approvals: medical director, DHA and the Media Council

Several approvals can apply to one piece of content, so build them into your publishing process:

• The facility's medical director should approve content that promotes a service or result and names the facility or its location.
• Medical advertisements, including paid social media and search ads that mention a medical service, need DHA approval before they run. Check the current application process in the DHA's Sheryan system.
• Paid promotional content on social media also falls under the UAE Media Council's advertiser permit rules.
• Pricing offers need care: the DHA prohibits discounts that take prices below regulated tariffs.

Google and Meta ad policies on top of the DHA rules

The ad platforms have their own healthcare rules, and an ad has to pass both. Google restricts ads for many medical services and prescription medicines, and some categories need certification before they can run. Meta's advertising standards restrict health-related claims and do not allow before-and-after images in ads for health and weight loss.

In practice, an ad that follows the DHA standards and sends people to a factual treatment page is the one most likely to be approved by the DHA, Google and Meta alike.

A simple approval workflow for your marketing team

Most problems come from content that skipped a step. A workflow that fits a small clinic:

• The marketing team drafts the post, page or ad and lists every claim it makes.
• Anyone checks the draft against the banned words and the consent file for patient images.
• The medical director approves the content and the approval is recorded with a date.
• Paid ads go to the DHA for approval before they are scheduled.
• After publishing, keep the final version, the approvals and the consent forms together, so you can show them if the DHA asks.

Marketing that works within the rules

The rules push clinics towards content that patients find more useful anyway. Explain what a treatment involves, who it suits, how long recovery takes and what it costs where you can publish prices. Answer the questions patients ask at reception: insurance, parking, waiting times and which doctor to see.

This kind of content also ranks well on Google and gets quoted by AI assistants, because it answers specific questions with facts rather than adjectives.

What this means for your clinic website

The published DHA standard focuses on social media, but your website is where most ads and posts send people, and the same rules on claims, images and consent are the safe baseline for it. Treat every service page, doctor profile and landing page as advertising content.

Patient data adds a second set of rules: under Federal Law No. 2 of 2019 on health information, health data is generally required to stay inside the UAE, so booking and enquiry forms should store data on UAE-hosted systems.

Checklist for clinic websites and social media

Before you publish a page, post or ad, check:

• No superlatives, guarantees or pressure language, including in image text and hashtags.
• Doctors are described by their licensed title, specialty and qualifications.
• Treatment pages describe what happens, recovery and common side effects in plain language.
• Every patient photo, video or testimonial has signed written consent on file.
• Before-and-after images are unedited and taken in the same conditions.
• The medical director has approved the content, and paid ads have DHA approval.
• Forms collect only what is needed to book, and the data is stored in the UAE.