Mandatory medical checks for alien workers in first two years

Star: PUTRAJAYA: All foreign workers in the country must from now undergo three mandatory medical screenings in the first two years of their arrival.
This is because 40,000 immigrant workers have been found to be carriers of contagious diseases in a recent random check, and the Government is concerned over the health risks posed to Malaysians, according to Health Minister Datuk Chua Soi Lek.
Under the new ruling approved by the Cabinet, foreign workers, including domestic maids, have to undergo compulsory screening within the first month of arrival and again, at the end of the year. A third check is required at the end of the second year.
Chua said the Government wanted to ensure that foreign workers were free from contagious diseases such as malaria, tuberculosis, syphilis, hepatitis B and HIV/AIDS.
Currently, new workers are only required to undergo health examination within a month of arrival.
Chua urged employers to abide by the new ruling, which also applied to existing workers, with immediate effect.
There are an estimated 1.8 million registered immigrant workers and 500,000 illegal workers in the country.
“The Government is concerned over the possible spread of diseases brought in by immigrant workers,” he said, adding that in many cases the workers were already infected upon arrival.
“For this reason, we insist that all employers send their foreign workers, including domestic maids, for medical screening in the first two years,” he said.
He added that the health authorities detected about 40,000 foreign workers who were carriers of diseases in a random survey last year.
Recently in Penang, health officials found four foreign workers at a construction site infected with malaria, two of whom were admitted to hospital.
“Further checks showed that 18 more workers at the site were also infected. After getting the test results, health officials went back to the site in hope of giving treatment but found that the workers, believed to be illegals, had disappeared.
“Imagine, what could happened if they took shelter in a village – the villagers would have been exposed to malaria,” he said.
Under the Ninth Malaysia Plan, he added, a Communicable Disease Centre would be established in Sungai Buloh to tackle emerging and re-emerging diseases.