GCC plans new medical tests for hiring expats

Executive Director of the Office of GCC Council of Health Ministers Dr Tawfiq Bin Khawjah disclosed the intention to add new medical tests while recruiting expatriate workers for GCC countries to attain an average of 2 percent reduction in the number of expatriates with infections.

Bin Khawjah said the concerned GCC committee stipulated the mechanism in 2012, but the GCC Ministers of Health decided to use it as means to reduce the number of expatriates infected by certain diseases. He said the council will soon approve the new examinations for specific chronic, psychological, and infectious diseases.

He included sound sight and mental health cases that require tests and hinted the council will soon raise fines on 510 accredited medical centers across the world for approving sick people. He added that expatriate workers with infectious diseases were about 25 percent of the total workers and the number later went down to 5 percent, covering about 2 million people. He noted the ministers are planning to reduce it to 3 percent to protect health of citizens and economies of the ministries.