Materia Medica Malaysiana

Extra health screening for foreign workers

PUTRAJAYA: All foreign workers must undergo an extra full medical check up, a month after their arrival as they have been found to be responsible for the increase in communicable diseases in the country.

The Cabinet Committee on Health and Cleanliness yesterday decided that a more stringent health screening for foreign workers was needed after it was found that tuberculosis, malaria and hepatitis B, diseases which had almost been eradicated, were now back due to the large number of foreign workers.

Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak said this decision was taken because random checks showed that a high number of them were carrying these diseases.

“Those found carrying communicable diseases will be deported immediately,” he told reporters.

Currently, foreign workers are only required to undergo a second health screening after having been in the country for a year, although authorities do carry out random screenings on between 5% and 10% of the new arrivals.

It was these screenings that uncovered that many of the foreign workers carried health certificates that did not match their health status.

Najib said the Government still required the workers to undergo screening in their home country, as it was part of the memorandum of understanding between the governments.