Employers have to make sure that all their workers are in good physical condition. A healthy worker is considered an asset in the workplace because the fact that they are free of diseases assures the excellent quality of their work performance.

For this reason, all overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) go through a rigorous medical examination before their employment documents can be processed. Patients who are diagnosed with a disease face the risk of being stamped unfit to work, and lose the opportunity to work abroad.

It is therefore important to be aware of the list of diseases that would make OFWs unfit to work in Gulf countries. This was recently announced by the Gulf Cooperation Council-(GCC) Accredited Medical Clinics Association (Gamca). The OFWs and other foreign workers from other Asian countries are required to pass the medical tests conducted only by Gamca clinics.

Countries included in the GCC are the following: Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.  The list of diseases that make OFWs unfit to work in GCC countries are the following:

Infectious category
HIV/AIDS reactive
Hepatitis B surface antifgen, HCV reactive
Microfilaria positive and malaria blood film positive, known leprosy patients
Tuberculosis – any type, X-ray showing active PTB, past evidence of PTB or healed • Pulmonary scar, including minimum fibrosis, calcification (granuloma) pleural thickening, pleural effusion, tuberculosis lymphadenitis
VDRL/TPHA reactive

Non-infectious category
Chronic renal failure
Chronic hepatitis failure
Congestive heart failure
Hypertension
Diabetes mellitus
Known case of cancer
Psychiatric disease and neurological disorders
Physical disabilities, i.e. color blindness, deafness