DOHA: The fees charged by the Medical Commission for the mandatory medical checkup are likely to be raised with the Supreme Council of Health (SCH) considering a proposal in this regard.
Dr Ibrahim Alshaar, director of the Medical Commission told The Peninsula that the Commission had proposed a revision of the fees, which was being considered by the higher authorities.
An average of 1,500 people undergo the mandatory tests at the Commission daily, most of them newly recruited foreign workers seeking a residence permit in Qatar. Private medical practitioners as well as those working with eateries, beauty salons etc must also undergo the tests annually while seeking renewal of their licences.
"The existing fees at the Commission had been fixed many years ago and there is a need for revision. For instance, for an elaborate medical check up for food handlers we are still charging only QR20. We have submitted a proposal for revising all the fees but no decision has been taken so far," said Alshaar.
The current fee for the check up for new recruits as well visitors to the country is QR100. This is also to be hiked, once the proposal is approved. The official, however, didn't give any clues to how much hike could be expected on the existing tariffs. A proposal to allow competent private hospitals and clinics to conduct the mandatory tests is in the final stages of study, said Alshaar.
"The idea behind this proposal is to give more options to the public regarding the tests. Discussions are currently on with the private sector regarding the fees and other details," he added.
He, however, said there were no plans to allow public health centres to conduct the tests for foreign workers since they were not equipped to do that. These centres have already been authorised to do medical check up for nationals who require that for various purposes.
Alshaar said, the online registration for companies seeking medical checkup for their newly recruited workers that was introduced by the Commission a few months ago had been functioning well. The Commission has also introduced the touch screen token system for customers recently to organise the queues.
There are no plans to expand the online registration service to individuals since it has been offered through the e-government. Only companies that have registered with the e-government can avail of the service in the current system, said the official.
© The Peninsula 2010
