BY RAISING some pertinent questions on the screening schedule of foreign workers ('Health checks: Why the gender discrimination?', Tuesday), Mrs Ivy Singh-Lim has opened a Pandora's box as there are other issues that should be studied.
If the authorities are leery of maids offering sexual services, why do we screen them for only syphilis and HIV, when these are not the most prevalent sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) in Singapore?
Surely, screening for only the most conveniently detected venereal disease is an expedient measure, more as a procedural routine than an encompassing diagnostic dragnet?
Again, while an employer may be aghast that his maid has contracted an STD, the disease does not prevent her from performing her duties, and members of the employer's household will not be infected or suffer in any way.
It has never been official policy to ordain tests for infectious diseases for maids. These should be mandatory - even before the maid is first employed - and done regularly. Diseases like Hepatitis A, typhoid and Helicobacter pylori infections are spread via the oro-faecal route and unsuspecting employers are at risk of infection from maids who are carriers�(almost all maids are food handlers in the home). A little neglect in hygiene can have dire consequences for the innocent.
Paradoxically, the law makes it compulsory for other food handlers like hawkers to be vaccinated against typhoid periodically, making official policy on different categories of food handlers seem rather haphazard.
I have never understood why we focus on immunising food handlers when we should do so for maids as well, and identify those who are carriers so they can be treated before they infect others.
Dr Yik Keng Yeong