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Sharjah: Labourers in Sharjah will no longer have to queue for medical tests as they now have their own medical centre at Industrial Area 2 behind Sharjah Cricket Stadium.
"It will take them only 15 minutes to take the tests, and after 24 hours they will have their results delivered to them by Empost," said a senior official from the new centre that was officially opened on Wednesday by Humaid Al Qutami, Minister of Health.
Previously, labourers used to get their medical tests carried out at the Sharjah municipality health centre located at Nasserya, which conducted up to 2,000 tests a day.
The tests involve checking for tuberculosis, HIV/Aids, and hepatitis A and B, at a cost of Dh500. It also contains a 'Quit Smoking Unit' that provides free medical advice as well as the distribution of nicotine gum and patches for visitors who want to quit smoking.
The new centre will be able to cater up to 3,000 visitors a day.
Sharjah has the highest concentration of labourers in the UAE, said Dr Ali Shakar, undersecretary at the Ministry of Health.
The inauguration of the medical centre came in accordance with the decision issued by the UAE Cabinet, which stated that as of Thursday municipal clinics will not be allowed to conduct medical tests for residence and labour visas.
The labourer's medical centre is the second centre in Sharjah to be set up by the Ministry of Health with the joint cooperation of the Sharjah Medical District. The first centre was opened more than ten years ago at Al Ghubaiba, and now caters to providing medical tests for senior government officials, government employees and housemaids.
The third medical centre is expected to open within three weeks at the Hamriya Free Zone, to cater to companies working at the region's Port.
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