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Maids should be screened for infectious diseases, say officials

Mandatory screening for housemaids includes Hepatitis B, HIV, TB, Syphilis and pregnancy test.

Health officials have asked residents to get their house helps screened for infectious diseases as soon as they arrive in the country.

Medical fitness test is a mandatory requirement for all expats in the UAE. It is required for a residency, employment, education or residency visa.

“Mandatory screening for housemaids includes Hepatitis B, HIV, TB, Syphilis and pregnancy test,” said Maisa Al Bustani, Director of Medical Fitness, while addressing several queries posted on the Dubai Health Authority (DHA) Twitter account on Thursday.

“Housemaids also receive all three doses of the Hepatitis B vaccine, if they have not taken them already. We advise people to get their house help screened as soon as they arrive,” she added.

The DHA has 16 medical fitness centres located across different parts of the Emirate for issuance and renewal of medical fitness tests. She said two categories of employees undergo additional screening. These include household workers such as drivers, cooks, gardeners, nannies and housemaids. The second category includes people in the food industry, those working in beauty parlours and health clubs. “Additional screening is required for these categories because of the sensitivity of their profession.”

The DHA offers mobile medical fitness service for companies with a large number of employees. “This is not the Tawajod service, it’s an additional service we started for companies with a large number of employees. This service is available for renewal of visas which only requires a blood test. Our team conducts these tests on-the-spot in the premises of the company. We encourage more companies to make use of this opportunity. At one time more than 70 employees are screened.”

In addition, the DHA has the Tawajod (at your doorstep) service and Tawajod Xpress service. This service is free of cost for people with special needs and only Dh260 is charged for the visa.

From January to March this year, 440,143 medical fitness procedures (renewal and issuance) were held. In terms of Tawajod services, 3,610 requests were received this year.

“We are also expanding our centres. By early 2015, we will establish two medical fitness centres for occupational screening. This screening is needed for those people who wish to get a certification according to the requirement of their profession. This includes heavy truck drivers and civil defence professionals. The centres will be located in Mirdiff and Karama,” Al Bustani said.

“By the end of 2014, we will establish a new branch in new Dubai exclusively for VIP patients. We have received many requests from customers in new Dubai for VIP medical fitness and in line with this demand we are building an exclusive centre in new Dubai. This area includes Dubai Marina and Discovery Gardens,” she added.

news@khaleejtimes.com