The move will help the countries reduce pressure on their health services, report says.
Saudi Arabia – GCC countries will only hire expats who are medically fit, Saudi Arabia’s Arab News has reported.
The move will help the countries reduce pressure on their health services, the report added.
This follows reports that about 10 per cent of two million workers recruited annually by the GCC members suffer from chronic diseases such as diabetes and high blood pressure.
“The member countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council have jointly decided not to recruit workers suffering from chronic diseases in their bid to reduce pressure on their health facilities,” Arab News cited Tawfik Khoja, director general of the Gulf Health Ministers Council, as saying.
However, he added that such foreign workers have not posed any threat to public health in the GCC so far.
GCC-approved medical test centres are now open in 18 countries including India, Pakistan, the Philippines, Bangladesh and Egypt. These countries send the largest number of workers to the Gulf countries.
