The move comes in line with the Ministerial Council for Services’ decision in this respect. At arrival the expatriate will be subjected to another medical check up before getting the residence visa.

State news agency WAM said the step is also aimed at preventing entry of contagious diseases that pose risk to public health in the country in accordance with the law.

Mahmoud Fikri, assistant undersecretary of health, said in a statement Tuesday the current labor medical checkup system has been in effect for over three decades through which few cases of contagious diseases were registered.

“The system applied by the UAE differs with those applied by the countries in the region as the medical checkup is mandatory with renewal of residence visa,” he added.

Fikri underlined that the new procedure will boost the UAE efforts to achieve the community health security and preserve public health through ensuring new expatriates and residents do not bear contagious diseases, indicating that “of late it has been noticed that the rates of contagious diseases increased among some categories coming from some countries in which there are higher rates of these contagious diseases.”

He added a national technical committee for medical checkup of expatriates has reviewed the checkup measures and percentages of different diseases in order to take new preventive measures to curb the increase of such cases.

Fikri said 21 percent of those checked up from Asian countries in 2009 suffered from tuberculosis, stressing the importance of conducting medical check in the countries with the higher rates of such contagious diseases to avoid huge burden incurred by those workers when diagnosed with the disease in the UAE.

Fikri said that the committee was currently reviewing the procedures of the executive office of the GCC Health Ministers' Council and experiences of other countries.

He noted that the entry of those infected with contagious diseases and their stay for over a month before the medical checkup could lead to transmission of disease.

Fikri said the Ministry of Health and Health Authorities conduct visits to the labor medical checkup centers in some Asian countries to ensure they conduct accurate medical check, and establish mechanisms of transferring data to the health sectors in the UAE. He reiterated that the medical check up would be applicable in the countries with the higher rates of contagious diseases.

He emphasized the importance of national program, which has so far kept the UAE intact from spread of the contagious diseases that pose danger to the community.