Compulsory foreign worker medic checks
Published on: Thursday, June 30, 2016
PETALING JAYA: The government is considering compulsory annual medical check-ups for foreign workers to stem the tide of diseases being imported into the country. Deputy Home Minister Datuk Nur Jazlan Mohamed said foreign workers currently only needed to undergo check-ups in the first three years of employment. "They do not have to undergo health checks in subsequent years even if they returned to their home country in between," he said.Nur Jazlan said the annual checks could reduce the risk of infection if the workers came back after their trips home.
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"It's a good thing but it is still under discussion because employers don't want to cover the extra cost," he said. According to him, 50 per cent of foreign workers in the country were diagnosed with contiguous diseases such as tuberculosis (TB), HIV and sexually transmitted diseases. In January, Fomema, the foreign workers medical examination monitoring agency, said three out of 100 foreign workers who underwent health screening suffered from dangerous diseases such as .TB, Hepatitis B and AIDS. Malaysian Employers Federation (MEF) Executive Director Shamsuddin Bardan said if the checks were done annually, employers would have to fork out more money.
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"The check-ups are not cheap. The big issue is the screening of foreign workers is currently done and controlled by Fomema," he said."These checks shouldn't be confined to Fomema, which charges exorbitantly."
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Shamsuddin said Fomema's monopoly over the industry needed to be reviewed, adding that the cost of medical check-ups by general practitioners was 30 per cent lower. "We are concerned about the spread of diseases, which have so far been under control in the country. "It is worrying but managing the cost will be difficult," he said. "In principle, we support an annual check-up but we need options and let doctors be free to quote their prices." According to Shamsuddin, 80 per cent of employers in the country bear the cost of medical check-ups, which is their responsibility, but 20 per cent deduct the cost from their employee's pay. The number of infectious diseases brought in by foreign workers have long been a cause for concern. Real Estate and Housing Developers' Association Malaysia (Penang) chairman Datuk Jerry Chan said it was not an issue if medical check-ups were done yearly. "It would give peace of mind to the workers, the employers and the public," he said. Chan said costing should not be an issue as the amount was not substantial enough to have an impact on the employer or foreign worker. "Look at it as a win-win situation. Better to have a yearly check-up than an epidemic on their hands or if a contagious disease breaks out. The downtime in such a scenario is much worse," he said. Malaysian Association of Foreign Maid Agencies (Papa) president Jeffrey Foo said annual check-ups were not a big issue because they were initially carried out once a year. "I don't think it's an issue except that having X-rays done every year could be detrimental to one's health, so medically, it is not good," he said. Foo said it was not surprising employers were reluctant to provide annual medical check-ups for their foreign workers as the cost of hiring was high, although there were bigger issues involved. "The concern is not so much about the legal workers. The problem is when the government finds out they are unfit, what do you do?" he said. Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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