New workers must be health tested before coming to UAE

Starting October new workers from Indonesia and Sri Lanka will have to undergo medical fitness tests in their home countries first as UAE plans to stop spread of new strains of infectious diseases. A senior Ministry of Health announced the new medical rules for residency visas Wednesday and said the testing will be expanded to all South-Asian countries and the Sub-continent later. Tuberculosis, Hepatitis B and HIV The new workers will have to undergo medical fitness tests at designated Gulf Authorised Medical Centres in ther home countries for infectious diseases such as pulmonary Tuberculosis, Hepatitis B and HIV/AIDS. The workers will be re-tested in the UAE after their arrival to curtail fraud and to stem the financial burden of treating such workers and deporting them if found to be contagious. The official said there are new strains of TB emerging in these countries and it was vital to stop such infections from entering the UAE. Officials said this will bar many infected job-seekers, who are first treated at huge cost and then deported. Indonesians and Sri Lankans will follow the plan initially for about six months and then the rest of the countries will be included in the second phase, the official said.