Checking up on migrant health

New Straits Times, Kuala Lumpur

Foreign workers must produce certificates of fitness from approved clinics in their country of origin before work permits are issued to them. Random health checks are also conducted on migrants at entry points.

Before their annual work permits are renewed by the Immigration Department, they have to undergo medical check-ups at panel clinics authorized by Fomema, the company responsible for screening foreign workers and certifying their fitness for work.

The problem is that there is a question mark over the reliability of the tests conducted in their home countries. In August, the Health Ministry said that five clinics in Indonesia had been dropped from the list of foreign health institutions authorized to conduct pre-entry medical examinations for Indonesians wanting to work here because they had issued false certificates.

The problem with the random checks is just that -- they are random and not comprehensive. They are only conducted at five major entry points and do not cover every migrant, and certainly not those who enter the country illegally. Last year, about 17,000 foreign workers -- or only five per cent of those coming to work in Malaysia for the first time -- were screened at the check points.

This is why the announcement by Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak -- that foreign workers will be tested for diseases a month after their arrival -- is to be welcomed. There is cause for concern because last year more than 18,000 of them were found to be unfit, and many were suffering from communicable diseases such as Hepatitis B, tuberculosis, syphilis, and HIV.

In many cases, the truth was only discovered during the random checks or annual medical examinations. There is therefore a need to implement this proposal as soon as possible. Needless to say, it will only be partially effective as long as the problem of illegal workers persists.

It is, of course, also vital for Malaysia to work closely with the sending countries. Last year, the Health Minister said that monitoring agencies would be located in the labor exporting countries to keep an eye on the appointed clinics. This Fomema- like system was said to have been approved by the Cabinet and was to have been implemented at the end of last year. But nothing seems to have come out of the proposal and it is not clear what has held it back. There seems to be a good case for resurrecting the idea.

It is also salutary to remember the Health Minister's remark in August last year that Malaysian clinics were also guilty of issuing false certificates. When the detection of a disease could lead to unemployment, the temptation to cover up medical histories or falsify documents for monetary gain is as transnational as the urge to cross borders in search of a better living.