GCC 'bars 95% of workers' for being unfit to work

The GCC has succeeded in blocking almost all workers unfit to take up the jobs for which they were recruited, the newly appointed Saudi health minister has said.

Ninety-five percent of workers found to be medically incapable of taking up their jobs have been barred from entering the territory, Ahmad Al-Khateed told the GCC Health Ministers Council conference this week, reports Arab News.

Historically, the GCC has only been able to block 70 percent of workers found to be ‘unfit’, following the standard medical test used by the six countries.

“It is by far one of the lowest levels [of failure] in the world, but we are looking to reducing it further,” Al-Khateeb told reporters after his keynote address on Wednesday.

He said the success would be followed up by developing a shared medical database of all workers entering the GCC. He praised the member countries for having already cooperated on several key measures, including the joint purchase of $2.6 billion (SR10.1 billion) of medicines, which has helped to lower prices for residents.