HIV-AIDS spreading unchecked

In the absence of mandatory health screening of returnee migrant workers at the airports, the country remains exposed to quick transmission of fatal diseases such as HIV-AIDS. For lack of on-arrival health tests, returnees carrying the virus are freely roaming about in society and infecting others with diseases. An alarming number of migrants and their relatives are reportedly diagnosed with the diseases during voluntary tests. This is substantiated by the facts that as many as 15 per cent of 1,438 newly diagnosed HIV-positive persons were returnee migrants, spouses and relatives of migrants. They account for a significant portion of the diagnosed individuals from the general population, according to a report published in this paper. This means that returnees, particularly those deported on health ground, stay in society as potential sources of the diseases. Such a serious health hazard could have been avoided to a certain extent had there been effective screening facilities at the entry points.

Another case for concern is that, while the recruiting countries follow strict rules to ensure that only healthy persons obtain visas, they do not share detailed information about diseases of the deported workers with the countries of origin. And as health screening is not done mandatorily on arrival at the airports, the authorities here are completely in dark about the carriers of deadly viruses. These carriers get married and infect others with the diseases.

HIV testing in the country is not mandatory. But the returnee workers and their spouses and relatives do not opt for tests willingly because of expensive nature of the diagnosis on the one hand and social stigma on the other. In most cases, they themselves are found unaware of HIV infectious. The result is that those who do not undergo HIV-test are not included in the list of government survey. These are serious concerns for the country's health surveillance and medical record-keeping systems. The diseases are spreading fast but the authorities are clueless about it.

In the present day world, migration of workers is a global phenomenon. While this is immensely beneficial for the world economy, it is also the means through which various diseases spread from one corner of the world to another. So, health screening particularly of the returnee workers, particulars about those deported on health ground, should be examined mandatorily on arrival. Such measures during the Covid-19 pandemic helped immeasurably to contain the spread of the killer disease; but authorities here are guided by the experience. It is not understandable how authorities can adopt a lackadaisical approach to such a serious issue. Their negligence to this life and death issue puts the country at the risk of HIV pandemic.

Forced deportation of migrant workers on health ground without detailed information about the nature of the diseases is a violation of international law, according to sources at a migrant worker welfare programme. To deal the issue efficiently, experts suggest, Bangladesh government must strengthen its negotiation capacity with the recruiting countries to ensure support and health insurance for migrants. At the same time, they must not forget to conduct medical examinations of the returnee workers. It must not be forgotten that the stake is nothing less than protecting the countrymen from the deadly diseases.