HEALTH authorities plan to halve the waiting time for foreign workers undergoing pre-employment medical tests.
Officials at the Al Razi Health Centre, Naim, want to speed up the process after already reducing it from a month to 14 days.
All expatriates who secure a job in Bahrain are required to undergo a medical check-up at their country of origin.
When they arrive in Bahrain they undergo another examination before being given residence permits.
The pre-employment medical tests include a general medical examination and chest X-ray.
Blood investigation to cover HIV, Hepatitis-B and Venereal Disease Research Laboratory test for syphilis for certain occupation groups such domestic workers, food handlers, barbers and beauty saloon staff are also carried out.
Workers who fail these tests are considered unfit for work and not issued a work visa.
The GDN reported in October that private hospitals and clinics had been given the green light to conduct mandatory pre-employment medical tests in a bid to ease pressure on the centre.
It was previously the sole place conducting the tests, which covers expatriate workers and their family members. The centre receives an average of 500 workers on a daily basis.
“Everything is running smoothly since private hospitals and clinics licensed by the Health Ministry were allowed to conduct the pre-employment tests,” said Al Razi Health Centre pre-employment section head Dr Abdulla Mansoor.
“The waiting list for pre-employment tests used to be one month, which was gradually reduced to two weeks.
“But with the help of private hospitals, our target is to bring this further down to one week in the next three months.”
Dr Mansoor said this would ease the process and benefit Health Ministry, foreign workers and authorities.
Foreign workers upon arrival at the Bahrain International Airport are given appointments to conduct tests at Al Razi Health Centre.
However, workers also have the option of visiting a private hospital or clinic to carry out the test.
They have to pay fees fixed by private hospital.
A residence permit is issued after the formalities are completed and a medical certificate is issued by Al Razi Health Centre or private hospital.
A total of 30,960 new work visas were issued in the first half of this year alone – 34 per cent of them for construction workers, according to Labour Market Regulatory Authority figures.
A total of 597,402 people were employed in Bahrain at the end of the third quarter, of which 457,487 were expatriates.
SANDEEP SINGH GREWAL
Gulf Daily