DOHA: The Medical Commission will set up a major new branch in Ras Laffan City in collaboration with Qatar Petroleum by the end of this year to conduct the mandatory health checks for newly recruited workers, a senior official said yesterday.
This unit, along with another branch to be set up in Mesaimeer by the year end, will cater to single workers. The Ras Laffan unit will have a capacity to screen 1,000 people daily.
An additional facility is getting ready next to the Medical Commission’s headquarters in Abu Hamour to conduct annual health screening of “food handlers” as well as those working in barber shops, beauty salons and massage parlours. It is also expected to be ready by the end of this year.
Four health centres and three full-fledged hospitals exclusively meant for single workers, which are expected to be operational by 2016, will also have Medical Commission units, the Commission’s director, Dr Ibrahim Al Shaar, said at a press conference yesterday.
The new Medical Commission units at Mesaimeer, Ras Laffan Industrial City and at the health centres for single workers will be operated by Qatar Red Crescent, according to an agreement signed with the Supreme Council of Health.
“The number of people coming to Qatar is increasing; the new Medical Commission units are expected to reduce the rush at the existing units. Also, more units will give options for newcomers to the country to select and go to the nearest place,” said Al Shaar.
He said employers, not the Medical Commission, are responsible for delays in screening of newly recruited workers.
“Some companies are registering their workers online for appointments after four months of their arrival in the country and they themselves are complaining of delays in the appointment system,” said Al Shaar, adding that no appointment takes more than three weeks.
“We are now working to reduce the waiting time to less than two weeks,” he added.
He urged company representatives to stay with workers who have problems in communicating with the Medical Commission staff.
The section for “food handlers” that will screen those working in hotels, cafeterias, salons, beauty parlours and massage centres will handle around 500 visitors daily.
“People working as food handlers and at salons and massage centres need to undergo annual health screening. They also need more specific health tests, like for dermatology and general health, as they come in direct contact with people and food,” said Al Shaar.
The Medical Commission’s headquarters, which operates with 420 staff from 7am to 8pm, receives around 3,000 people daily.
The recently-opened Medical Commission unit at Industrial Area Health Centre for male workers receives around 500 people everyday.
The units at Shamal, Al Wakrah and Al Khor health centres conduct tests for families and house maids. Private hospitals — Doha Clinic, Al Emadi and Al Ahli — have been permitted by the commission to conduct the mandatory screening for white-collar workers.
The mandatory tests aim at preventing the spread of infectious diseases. Of all people who undergo tests at units, about three percent are found with infectious diseases, mainly with tuberculosis and a few cases of HIV, according to Al Shaar. Those with such diseases are sent back home. He said the number of unfit cases had declined after check-ups in workers’ countries. THE PENINSULA
THE PENINSULA
