Om Astha Rai

The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), a political and economic union of several Arab states, has allowed seven laboratories, which have yet not been authorized by the Nepal government, to conduct medical tests of Nepali workers.

An authorized technical team of the GCC, which recently visited Nepal, has allowed Alkhaleef Medical Centre, Aqua Diagnostic Services, Razam Medical Centre, Saiba Medical Centre, Mediasia Diagnostic Centre, Al-Mashoor Diagnostic Centre and Life Trust Medi Diagnostic Centre to conduct medical checkup of Nepali workers for Saudi Arabia and Oman. However, the National Public Health Laboratory (NPHL), which issues licenses to Nepali health institutes for the medical checkup of Nepali workers, has not allowed any of them.

"They (the GCC-approved labs) may be well-equipped, but they cannot conduct medical tests of Nepali workers without first having obtained licenses," said Dr Geeta Shakya, executive director of the NPHL.

As of now, the NPHL has authorized a total of 179 laboratories for the medical checkup of Nepali workers. Although Foreign Employment Act-2007 allows all the NPHL-approved laboratories to conduct health checkup of Nepali migrant workers, several countries, including Saudi Arabia and Oman, have some other arrangements.

Only a few laboratories listed by the GCC-Approved Medical Centres´ Association (GAMCA) can conduct medical tests of workers for Saudi Arabia and Oman. Earlier, the GAMCA had approved five medical centers for the medical tests of Nepali workers for these countries.

With Nepal Health Professionals´ Federation (NHPF), an umbrella organization of the NPHL-approved health centers, mounting pressure for the enlistment of more Nepali health institutes under the GAMCA, the GCC had sent a team to Nepal to inspect more labs. However, of the total 27 laboratories inspected by the GCC team, only unauthorized medical centers were listed under the GAMCA.

According to Khadga Bahadur Shrestha, president of the NHPF, the GCC´s terms and conditions stipulate that the GAMCA-listed laboratories must be recognized by the health ministry of the concerned country. But, the GCC technical team has violated its own terms and conditions by selecting unauthorized laboratories. "The unauthorized laboratories must have bribed the GCC medical team," Shrestha said. "We will not accept this at any cost."

Shrestha has asked the Ministry of Health and Population (MoHP) to lobby for correcting "this mistake" by June 23. "If a concrete step is not taken to correct this error on time, we will launch protests," he said.

Published on: 15 June 2011 | Republica