Manama: Expatriates arriving in Qatar to work or to stay for more than one month will be charged a fee varying between Qatari riyals 400 (Dh403.4) and QR800 for a compulsory medical check-up.
The test can be carried out at any of the three private hospitals authorised by the Supreme Council of Health (SCH).
Until now, the test has been done by the Medical Commission alone and the move to involve the private sector in the task was taken to lessen the burden on the commission, Qatari daily Gulf Times reported on Tuesday.
According to Dr Thayir Salman Abdullah, a member of the committee constituted by the SCH to work out the details of handling the medical check-up on behalf of the Medical Commission, the differences in the fees are due to the types of tests to be conducted for different categories of workers.
Under the fee structure, engineers, lawyers and professionals who are in a similar category will be charged Qatari riyals 400 while those seeking employment in the health sector, including medical doctors, nurses, technicians, paramedics and those in the food industry and in hair-cutting saloons will be charged between Qatari riyals 600 to Qatari riyals 800.
"The increase in charges is because more intensive and elaborate tests have to be conducted for these categories of employees who will be in close interaction with the public. It is essential to ascertain that they are free from contagious diseases," Dr Abdullah said.
Expatriates will have the option of having their medical check-ups done at one of the three approved private hospitals or at the Medical Commission. The charges payable to the hospitals will be uniform.
However, each hospital will handle only 100 cases per day and will submit the reports within 48 hours. A review of the tests is possible in the event of doubts in the findings of the first check-up.
According to the health authorities, the arrangement involving private hospitals will be on an experimental basis for three months.
