‘Foreign workers to undergo annual check-ups’
SERDANG: Foreign workers will undergo yearly health screenings from now on, said Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr S. Subramaniam, adding that the cabinet has approved the new policy on health screening on foreign workers.
Foreign workers are now required to undergo medical in three years.
“From now on, they must do annual check-ups to renew their work permits,” he said.
However, Dr Subramaniam said, the issue was not with the legal foreign workers, but undocumented ones.
“We miss about three per cent of the legal ones, but it is those who enter this country illegally who are the problem. The bulk (of illegal immigrants) is in Sabah.”
He said in Sabah, the influx of illegal workers had resulted in a rise in tuberculosis cases.
Dr Subramaniam said the doubling of HIV cases in Terengganu was mainly caused by heterosexual transmissions.
The New Straits Times yesterday reported that sexually transmitted HIV infections in Terengganu more than doubled from 15.6 per cent in 2010 to 34.6 per cent last year, where 7.9 per cent was among homosexual or bisexual individuals.
“In the past, the main cause of HIV was the use of intravenous (IV) drugs, but we have been successful in reducing that through campaigns.
“Now, it is definitely through heterosexual intercourse, so now we are tackling the behavioural problem,” he said after the launch of the Fruits and Vegetables Eating Campaign at the Malaysia Agriculture, Horticulture and Agrotourism Show here yesterday.
Dr Subramaniam quoted the National Health and Morbidity Survey, which showed only six per cent of adults included enough fruits and vegetables in their daily diet.
The survey showed that obesity among Malaysian adults had increased from 4.4 per cent in 1996 to 17.7 per cent last year, while those in the overweight category were at 30.3 per cent, with 47.7 per cent having high cholesterol.
Dr Subramanian said a survey would be conducted five years from now to see the effectiveness of the campaign.