Kuwait mulls compulsory medical exam for tourists

Recent fears over MERS, Ebola have led the Ministry of Health to consider pushing for all foreigners entering the country to undergo compulsory medical exams

(Photo for illustrative purposes only)

Kuwait’s Ministry of Health is considering seeking compulsory medical examinations for all foreigners who arrive in the country on a visit visa, Arab Times has reported.

The idea follows revelations that 2,000 labourers with AIDS or phthisis were working in the country, having entered as a tourist and transferring to a working visa, avoiding medical exams.

The health ministry also was concerned by the recent outbreaks of the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), which started in neighbouring Saudi Arabia, and Ebola.

Meanwhile, a Nigerian athlete had been reportedly quarantined in Kuwait on suspicion of having Ebola, a fatal disease that has killed more than 1000 people in West Africa in recent months.

He was later found to be free of the virus.

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Courtney Trenwith