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14 Filipino labs accredited to conduct guest workers’ health test

By JT - Feb 22,2018 - Last updated at Feb 22,2018

AMMAN — The Director of Chest Diseases and Foreigners Health Department at the Ministry of Health Ibrahim Al Mashaikh said that an agreement has been signed with 14 medical laboratories in the Philippines to carry out the required tests of domestic workers recruited through guest workers offices in Jordan, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported on Thursday.

Over the past two days, Mashaikh said that he visited 30 medical laboratories in the Philippines in cooperation with the Domestic Helpers Recruitment Agencies Association, with the aim of accrediting them to conduct laboratory tests and ensure that guest workers are free from diseases before arriving to Jordan. 

The association’s President Khaled Hseinat negotiated with the laboratories on the cost of tests to be borne by the recruitment offices, which indicated they will be “reasonable” and not as high as previously rumoured, Mashaikh added.

He noted that the procedure will begin on March 1, adding that the new “sensitivity examination of tuberculosis” will be required in addition to previous tests, as well as a chest radiograph and a medical certificate proving that the guest worker is clear of psychological and physical disabilities. 

The results will then be sent from the Philippines to Jordan electronically before the worker arrives to the Kingdom.

Mashaikh highlighted an increase in the number of centres and laboratories accredited in the Philippines, which he attributed to the latest assessments conducted in the past six months. He stressed Health Minister Mahmoud Sheyyab’s interest in the issue and his concern to improve the quality of performance and services provided by guest workers as well as the need to ensure their physical and psychological safety.

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