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Compulsory medical tests for resident visa applicants
A compulsory health assessment will be introduced to resident visa applicants to Sri Lanka in an attempt to eliminate imported cases of communicable diseases such as tuberculosis (TB) and malaria, a senior Health Ministry official said. Under the first phase of the project, the Ministry of Health is to introduce the health assessment to those who apply for renewal of a resident visa, according to Dr. Susie Perera of the Migrant Health Secretariat set up under the Ministry of Health.
Once implemented, all applicants for resident visas will go through health tests including a test for TB and malaria. A test for HIV/AIDS would also be conducted after counselling, she said.
“Any non-citizen coming to Sri Lanka for work purposes will have to go through the health assessment,” Dr. Perera said.“The migration profile has changed. The country now has an inbound labour sector which we did not have previously,” she said.Immigration Controller Chulananda Perera said that once the Ministry of Health finalised necessary regulations, his department would insists that resident visa applicants submitted a medical report.
The Health Ministry is planning to partner with the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) to provide technical support on implementation of this move.
“The IOM has been requested to submit a comprehensive proposal for a partnership. As its technically the most competent, it would be the best option available,” Dr. Perera said.
Cabinet approval to include a compulsory health assessment for resident visa categories has already been given.According to TB Control programme director Dr. K.N.G. Senawirathna, the biggest threat is from migrants from China, India, Myanmar and Thailand. These countries also have Multi Drug Resistance tuberculosis (MDRTB ) which is costly to treat.
“These countries have a high TB prevalence and we find an increased inbound labour migration mainly from India and China. We have so far approached them on informal basis but health assessment needs to be made compulsory for these categories,” he said. The decision comes in the wake of a risk of spread in TB as inbound labour migration to the country is on the rise. According to Anti-Malaria Unit data, all cases of malaria recorded for the past 18 months are imported cases.
“As we are in the eradication phase, we are concerned about a reintroduction of malaria through migration. Malaria being a forgotten disease heightens the risk further. Therefore, it is important for us to take all measures to prevent outbreaks,” Dr. Risintha Premaratne, director of the Anti-Malaria Unit said.
At present malaria testing and treatment are available for any migrant passing though the airport, he said. However, testing is on voluntary basis.
As visitors from malaria-affected countries such as African nations and India increase, the risk also increases, Dr. Premaratne said. Last year 95 cases of imported malaria were reported while no indigenous case was recorded. Seven cases of imported malaria have been recorded so far this year.Further explaining the importance of health assessment for all categories of resident visa, Dr. Perera said that the country will have to spend close to Rs. 1.5 million a patient if MDRTB spreads in the country.