With the Foreign Worker Employment Relaxation Plan , we must improve medical screening as a policy priority under the broader management of the foreign migrant workforce
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THE HEALTH | MAY , 2023
| Column |
Improve medical screening of foreign workers
With the Foreign Worker Employment Relaxation Plan , we must improve medical screening as a policy priority under the broader management of the foreign migrant workforce
THE recent Foreign Worker Employment Relaxation Plan ( FWERP ) announced by the government makes it easier for employers from five sectors ( farming , agriculture , construction , manufacturing , services – restaurants only ) to hire foreign workers from 15 source countries . This scheme targets around 500,000 foreign workers (“ Government approves entry of 500,000 foreign workers ”, New Straits Times , Jan 18 , 2023 ).
As of December 2022 , 1,459,196 foreign workers held a Temporary Work Visit Pass or VP ( TE ) in Malaysia . The FWERP will only increase the number of VP ( TE ) holders in the coming months .
Therefore , given the FWERP , there is a need to improve medical screening as a policy priority under the broader management of the foreign migrant workforce in the country .
The Foreign Workers Medical Examination Monitoring Agency
AND
EMIR-SING
BY JASON LOH
JUHI TODI
SOURCE : FOMEMA
( FOMEMA ) is an independent organisation appointed by the government to manage the medical health screening of foreign workers .
There are two phases of medical screening for foreign workers : 1 . Phase 1 ( pre-arrival ) – foreign workers are required to undergo a medical screening in their source country before departing for Malaysia ; and
2 . Phase 2 ( post-arrival ) – after arriving in Malaysia , foreign workers must undergo another medical screening at any of FOMEMA ’ s accredited health clinics within 18 days of arrival . Only upon clearing the FOMEMA health check-ups will they be issued a VP ( TE ). Should they fail the medical examination , they will not be allowed to stay and work and employers are required to apply for the repatriation process .
A foreign worker detected with any of the following diseases or conditions is said to fail the FOMEMA health screening :
Foreign workers are required to undergo a medical examination annually for up to three years after arriving in Malaysia after which they are only required to do so every alternate year . Ten years is the maximum number of years a foreign worker can reside in Malaysia .
RISE IN COMMUNICABLE DISEASES
Despite these precautions taken by FOMEMA , contagious diseases are increasing in Malaysia .
In 2022 , Penang experienced a malaria crisis after the entry of foreign workers in the State (“ Penang facing urban malaria crisis following the influx of foreign workers , says state health DG ”, The Star , Aug 12 , 2022 ).
A 2010-2017 study on the health status of migrant workers in Selangor found an increasing trend in communicable diseases (“ Health Status of Migrant Workers Attending Primary Care Clinics in Malaysia : Basis for Health Intervention Programme ”, Faller & Miskam , Andalas University ).
Of the 5,819,426 foreign workers that underwent FOMEMA medical screenings from 2014-2018 , 141,577 ( 2.43 per cent ) failed and had to be sent back to their countries . Amongst these , 84,982 ( 60 per cent ) failed due to having communicable diseases with tuberculosis being the most prevalent ( 62,380 ) (“ The Next Pandemic : Factors of Failure in FOMEMA Tuberculosis Screening Amongst the Foreign Workers in Malaysia ”, European Journal of Molecular & Clinical Medicine , Vol . 7 , Issue 6 , 2020 ).
The Auditor-General ’ s Report 2018 reported that “ the Home Ministry ’ s control on foreign workers is incompetent … the weakness in the system includes having no accurate record of foreign workers failing FOMEMA tests and of those sent back to their home countries ” (“ Lax control on alien workers ”, The Star , July 16 , 2019 ).
IDENTITY THEFT
Identity theft is commonly used where a healthy individual is sent for screening in substitution of an unhealthy worker to enable the issuance of a work permit for the unhealthy worker .
To combat this , FOMEMA included two measures to verify the foreign worker ’ s identity at the healthcare clinic : presenting their passport and biometric fingerprint verification (“ Fomema rolls out foreign worker biometric fingerprint verification system ”, Malay Mail , March 17 , 2019 ).
The standard operating procedure ( SOP ) states that the medical examination is only carried out if the worker ’ s identity is confirmed .
MAXIMUM PERIOD FOR POST-ARRIVAL SCREENING
Previously , the SOP required employers to have their workers take the medical screening within 30 days of arriving in Malaysia . However , according to the Auditor-General ’ s Report , in 2017 and 2019 , over 11,000 foreign workers took their medical screening post the 30-day time frame .
This long-time frame allows workers to roam around freely unknowingly