Ministry to tighten Fomema screening system

NST: KUALA LUMPUR: The Health Ministry will take immediate steps to close loopholes in the Fomema screening mechanism to avoid negligence.
Minister Datuk Liow Tiong Lai said the ministry would strengthen the medical screening mechanism to "prevent hanky-panky" in the system.
"Any Fomema clinics found to have made false reports will be blacklisted immediately. We can't allow these clinics to make false medical reports."
Liow was speaking after handing RM100,000 in earthquake aid to Chinese Ambassador to Malaysia Cheng Yonghua for victims in Sichuan, China.
Liow was responding to the New Sunday Times report on unfit foreign workers working in the country despite Fomema's strict entry requirements.
All foreign workers are required to be medically screened by Fomema - the independent agency appointed by the government to monitor and supervise the mandatory health-screening programme - within a month of their arrival in Malaysia.
"It is unfair for employers to have to send their maids for second-opinion medical tests when they have paid Fomema to conduct these screenings," Liow said.
He urged employers whose maids tested positive for infectious diseases during the second-opinion screening to lodge reports immediately with the Immigration Department and Health Ministry.