Man loses Dubai job visa after faulty HIV diagnosis, council says cancel lab’s licence

The man had a job offer in Dubai for which he needed a work visa. He was declared unfit to travel to Dubai because of the wrong HIV report and he lost his job.

GIRISH TYAGI, secretary, Delhi Medical Council

NEW DELHI: A young man from Uttrakhand was wrongly diagnosed as being HIV positive by a lab in south Delhi, which led to his being denied a visa to work in Dubai.

The man, Salim Ahmed, was referred to Neutech Medical Centre in New Friends Colony, Delhi, by a tout to get a mandatory medical check-up that is needed before applying for a work visa to United Arab Emirates (UAE). The lab later told him that he was HIV positive.

Since the UAE restricts the entry of people who are HIV positive from seeking jobs and residence in the country, Ahmed was declared unfit for travel to Dubai based on the HIV positive report from the diagnostic centre on February 1.

To confirm the diagnosis, Ahmed got himself retested at a private laboratory in Gurugram on February 10 and again at a Community Health Centre in Jaspur, Udham Singh Nagar in Uttarakhand on February 13. He tested negative for HIV in both the places.

“The man had a job offer in Dubai for which he needed a work visa. He was declared unfit to travel to Dubai because of the wrong HIV positive report and he lost his job,” said Dr Girish Tyagi, secretary of the Delhi Medical Council. “Subsequently, he got himself tested twice later, one of which was at a government facility. Both the times his test came out to be negative. That’s when he filed a complaint,” said Dr Tyagi.

Ahmad filed a complained with the Medical Council of India, which referred his case to the Delhi Medical Council. Following the complaint and a subsequent investigation, the Delhi Medical Council (DMC) has asked the Directorate of Health Services to cancel the licence of Neutech Medical Centre at Taimoor Nagar, where the wrong diagnosis was done.

The order of the Delhi Medical Council also calls for strict action against the erring centre as “such a centre may not be equipped or have proper qualified doctors to run laboratory test.”

“I am not aware of the issue and have not received any notice from Delhi Medical Council. I will get back to you,” said Dr Afsar Siddiqui, managing director, Neutech Medical Centre.

The medical superintendent of the diagnostic centre was asked to submit their statement to the Delhi Medical Council executive committee, which they failed to do despite repeated notices.