In a bid to control the spread of infectious diseases including HIV/AIDS, Malaysia has stepped up its health screenings of foreign workers, Health Minister Chua Soi told reporters recently. Beginning next month, migrant workers must be tested within a month of their arrival for HIV, hepatitis B, syphilis, TB, leprosy and other diseases.

Chua said the new ruling would effectively eliminate unhealthy workers, since those with communicable diseases would be deported. Current Malaysian regulations require workers to provide medical certificates from their home countries and to undergo medical screening in Malaysia after one year, when applying for work permit extensions.

"We fear the current requirement to undergo medical examination after a year was too long because by then they will have close contacts with the locals and possibly they may have passed on infectious diseases," Chua said.

Last year, 2.8 percent of the 909,273 foreign workers tested had infectious diseases, including 336 with HIV, according to the national Bernama news agency. The largest number, 12,548, had hepatitis B.

Malaysia relies heavily on foreign labor. The new medical rule is part of governmental reforms regarding the treatment of guest labor. About 1.5 million migrant workers legally work in Malaysia, while hundreds of thousands more work illegally.

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