Qatar to reintroduce mandatory home medical check-up for expatriates

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Qatar to reintroduce mandatory home medical check-up for expatriates

The Supreme Council for Health and the interior ministry had earlier said
that the rule would apply to job seekers from 11 countries

By Habib Toumi, Bureau Chief
Published: 12:03 August 28, 2011

Manama: A long-pending proposal to reintroduce the mandatory medical check
up for job seekers from different Asian and African countries before their
arrival in Qatar has been cleared by the cabinet for implementation.

The Medical Commission and the Ministry of Interior will soon work out a
mechanism to implement the proposal, a senior official from the commission
said.

"It will be implemented soon since the Cabinet has now endorsed the
proposal," Ebrahim Al Shaar, director of the Medical Commission, said,
quoted by Qatari daily The Peninsula.

The Supreme Council for Health (SCH) and the interior ministry had earlier
said that the rule would apply to job seekers from 11 countries - India,
Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Philippines, Egypt,
Sudan, Ethiopia, Syria and Eritrea.

There are more than 200 medical centres in the 11 countries that are
authorised to conduct the tests for a fee fixed at $50.

"We are working in collaboration with the interior ministry to develop a
mechanism to implement the decision. We may use the online system for
receiving the test results from the authorised medical centres. The
ministry will issue the visas for the applicants based on the test
results," Al Shaar said. However, he said the procedures were not
finalised.

The mandatory tests at the Medical Commission will continue even after the
new system is implemented.

Currently every newcomer to Qatar must undergo the tests at the Medical
Commission to detect contagious diseases such as HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis,
hepatitis B and hepatitis C.

The Ministry of Interior had earlier said that only those seeking a
residence permit in the country would have to undergo the check-up.

Several Qatari businessmen and members of the Central Municipal Council
(CMC) have reportedly welcomed the decision.

"It will help avoid the problems that the employers would suffer, in case a
newly recruited worker fails the tests at the Medical Commission and is
forced to go back to his country. Medical tests at the source countries can
reduce such incidents," Ali Al Afeefa, a Qatari businessman, said.

They urged the authorities to ensure that that the tests are properly
conducted by the authorised medical centers in the countries of origin and
that there is no tampering with the results.