No need to ban workers who are Hepatitis B carriers

• The Straits Times (02 April 2010) : No Need to Ban Workers who are Hepatitis B Carriers
• The Straits Times (29 March 2010) : Why aren't maids screened for hepatitis B?

     Ms Felynn Chin asked “Why aren't maids screened for hepatitis B” (The Straits Times, 29 Mar 2010) as she was worried about acquiring hepatitis B from infected Foreign Domestic Workers (FDWs).

2.  There is no compelling need to screen FDWs for hepatitis B or to ban hepatitis B carriers from working in Singapore. Firstly, Hepatitis B is not transmitted through casual contact. It is transmitted through sexual contact or injection needles. Secondly, vaccination offers effective prevention against hepatitis B. Hepatitis B vaccination has been incorporated into our Childhood Immunisation Programme since 1985. A person who has received the full course of vaccination is protected even if exposed to hepatitis B carriers.

3.  All foreign workers, including FDWs, have to undergo a medical examination by a registered Singapore doctor within 14 days of their arrival in Singapore. They will be screened for HIV, tuberculosis, syphilis and malaria. They must provide accurate details of their medical history, failing which they may be barred from working here.

RECENTLY, I employed a new maid and took her for a hepatitis B vaccination. To my surprise, I discovered that she was a hepatitis B carrier. Only when I inquired with the maid agency and the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) did I realise that hepatitis B is not part of a maid's health screening checklist.

The hepatitis B virus is transmitted through contact with the blood or other body fluids of an infected person. Maids are in close contact with an employer's family regularly: carrying babies, showering elderly parents and children, and preparing our meals, to name a few.

Shouldn't hepatitis B be made part of the health screening checklist, considering the consequences of transmission? Our replacement maid too tested positive for hepatitis B.