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System will link GCC to manpower-exporting states

By Md Rasooldeen

RIYADH: Prospective Gulf workers' medical reports issued from 11 manpower exporting countries will be linked electronically to the GCC health ministers' secretariat and to countries in the region.

It is mandatory all workers who come for employment in the Gulf countries should undergo a medical test at one of the clinics recommended by the GCC Approved Medical Centers' Association (GAMCA), an affiliated body to the GCC Health Ministers Secretariat with headquarters in Riyadh.

Speaking at the inauguration of a workshop to introduce the new electronic system, which is to be introduced within a period of 10 days, executive director of the secretariat Tawfik Khoja said on Sunday the new program will link a number of relevant organizations in the deployment of recruiting foreign workers to the GCC region.

They include, he said, the GCC Health Ministers Secretariat, GAMCA, the GCC embassies located in the manpower exporting countries and the ministries of health in the GCC countries.

Speaking to Arab News, he said the new system is being implemented to ensure workers who come here to the GCC countries are in perfect health. "We do not want any diseases to come into the region through these foreign workers," he said, clarifying that the new system will reject any workers found medically unfit for employment in the GCC countries.

Eleven manpower exporting countries come under the new electronic system. They are India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Bangladesh, the Philippines, Nepal, Egypt, Sudan, Ethiopia and Syria.

According to the figures available for 2010, Khoja said there are 256 clinics in 11 countries located in Asia, North Africa and one in the Middle East.

During this period, he said more than 2 million workers have undergone clinical tests in these centers and around 1.7 million of them were found physically fit to work in the region.

The executive director said the new system is being implemented following a decision taken by the eighth GCC Health Ministers Council meeting held in Kuwait, which expressed its keenness on maintaining a region free of infectious diseases and other common health problems. He said the workshop would enlighten health officials on the operations of the new system and how to deal with applicants who are barred from coming for overseas employment for medical reasons.

The prospective employees are screened for incurable diseases, infectious diseases, chronic diseases such as diabetes, cardiac and renal diseases, epilepsy and also for pregnancy in case of maids.

Khoja also said in future, the number of selected employees who go for medical tests to GAMC approved clinics will be equally distributed among the number of clinics in each country. "This would help the employers to get the medical reports without any undue delay," he said.

He also said data stored in the new system would help local medical authorities in diagnosing diseases among employees.

© Arab News 2012