Stakeholders have demanded action against health institutions that prepare fake medical reports of workers going for foreign employment.

Additional Secretary of the Ministry of Health Dr. The report prepared by the working group led by Dipendra Raman Singh revealed the fact that health institutions make fake medical reports without the presence of the workers and that there is a health risk for the workers who have gone for foreign employment. The report was released by the

task force last Wednesday. Due to fake medical reports, the stakeholders have also expressed their concern that destination countries distrust the medical reports issued by Nepal's health institutions. 

They emphasized that the Ministry of Labor should be serious about monitoring the actions of giving false medical reports without taking sensitive matters like the health of the workers and taking action according to the rules. Labor expert Ganesh Gurung, who is also the coordinator of the labor immigration policy drafting team, says that those who tamper with the health examination of workers should not be exempted.

Medical examination should be made mandatory in Nepal so that the health of workers going to the destination country is not adversely affected. It is linked to the health of the workers and the employer company. Due to the lack of quality health tests here, the destination countries are doing it themselves," he said. "Those who provide false medical reports in Nepal should be stopped. The Ministry of Labor should effectively monitor and punish those health institutions continuously.' 

Gurung says that the government should not delay the implementation of the report of the task force led by Singh. "In Nepal, we are witnessing a sad situation where the workers have to return to the box because the health examination is not effective. To minimize this, the government should discourage the giving of false reports. The government should continue to monitor impartially," he said. 

dr. Singh's report has suggested that for the assurance of medical reports, health tests should be conducted based on the demands and needs of the destination country and the medical reports should be made available accordingly, all health institutions should be standardized according to international standards and the government should implement a one-door system to make it uniform for all countries. 

The Ministry of Labor is monitoring the listed health institutions from time to time. Last year, the Ministry of Labor suspended the business of 67 health institutions that did not meet the monitoring standards of health testing institutions. They were released after meeting the criteria. 

President of the National Network for Safe Immigration Chiranjeevi Baral said that strict action should be taken against health institutions that play with the lives of individuals.

'Each year more than a thousand Nepali workers are dying. This death was said to be the result of the work environment and lack of effective health screening in the destination country. This fact has been clearly revealed by the report of the expert task force," said Baral, "There should be an investigation and strict action against those who commit such crimes. This report shows that no one should be allowed to examine the health of workers. Appropriate criteria should be set for this.' 

According to the records of Foreign Employment Board, 14 thousand 666 workers died from 2008/09 to 2021/22 (14 years). Most of them died from heart attack 19, natural causes 19.5, workplace accidents 7, road accidents 12.7, suicide 11 and remaining 30.8 percent from other causes.

The report also states that it is necessary to clearly disclose the cause of death in foreign employment. The cause of death is not clearly mentioned in the death certificate submitted to the Board for compensation. Most of the certificates contain words like 'Natural, Sudden Death, Heart Attack, Unnatural'.

Those who have passed the medical examination in the country, the workers who fail the test abroad, are subjected to more economic exploitation. In such a situation, they have been deprived of compensation and insurance money. Hitkumar Lama of Morang, Urlabari-8 Sunjhoda said he lost three lakh rupees due to medical failure.

I went to UAE after passing medical in Nepal. Three lakh rupees were invested. When examined in the UAE, a black spot was found on the chest," he said. "Now the manpower company says that it is not in charge of the medical. He says that he will take responsibility only if there is a difference in salary and company. He said that he will give back only 10,000 rupees when he goes to the health testing institute. I didn't get help from anywhere.'  The

report has stated that it is necessary to make health institutions, doctors and workers responsible to ensure quality health examinations and to 'digitize' health institutions to completely end the wrong practice of giving medical fitness reports. According to the report of the

working group, drawing attention to the fact that most of the health institutions do not meet the standards of the Nepal government, the government has suggested that the health institutions listed by the Nepal government (those selected through the relevant country and those not) should be classified according to international standards to make it uniform for all countries. . 

Two hundred and 15 health institutions are listed in the Ministry of Labor to ensure quality health examination of workers going to foreign employment. Out of these, 36 in Malaysia, 19 in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain and Oman (GAMCA), and 4 in Korea are conducting health examinations.