New immigrant health screening rules announced

John Miller

I think this may be of interest to quite a few people.

All people coming to New Zealand for 12 months or longer will have to have a full medical examination, Immigration Minister Lianne Dalziel said today.

The examination was part of a new immigration health and disability screening programme, Ms Dalziel announced today.

The programme will boost existing screening measures in an effort to improve public protection from highly contagious diseases.

It would also identify potential costs to the health system, Ms Dalziel said.

The programme has three main components:

screening for conditions that pose a public health risk;

benchmarks to identify "significant" costs or demands plus a list of conditions that are above the benchmarks;

professional support systems to ensure Immigration Service (NZIS) medical advisers have access to speciality areas when assessing individual cases and for updates on disease and disability trends.

Rules that previously allowed almost all residence applicants to apply for a waiver to the health and disability requirements have also been tightened.

NZIS and the Health Ministry will begin phasing in the new screening requirements from March, Ms Dalziel said.

It was expected they would be fully implemented by the end of the year, she said.

"More people wanting to enter New Zealand will have to undergo tuberculosis (TB) screening, particularly if they are from or have recently lived in identified countries with a high incidence of TB," she said.

"This includes countries with more than 20 cases of TB per 100,000 of population and countries where the TB notification rate is likely to be inaccurately low due to poor diagnosis and notification."

At present only those planning to be in New Zealand for two or more years must be screened for TB, she said.

Under the changes, the screening requirements will apply from March to overseas students wanting to stay in New Zealand for more than six months.

From mid-2004 they will apply to visitors or workers intending to stay for longer than one year.

"By the end of 2004 it is intended to extend compulsory TB screening to all people wanting to enter New Zealand for six months or more, from high-risk countries."

The medical examination will test for a range of ill health and disability indicators.

It has been expanded to include screening for HIV, Hepatitis B and significant kidney disease.

It would also allow for an assessment of likely costs to special education.

The targets are understood to include people with illnesses that are expensive to treat, such as kidney disease, which needs dialysis, and tuberculosis.

Under current rules, people coming in have to declare whether they have a range of illnesses but they are not tested for most of them.

A review of the screening system that had been going on for more than a year "clearly" indentified the need to improve public protection against highly contagious diseases.

"There were also issues related to people entering New Zealand while potentially needing treatment for such conditions as kidney failure or HIV/Aids," Ms Dalziel said.

A flaw in the existing policy was that it did not identify disability, unless there were associated costs to the public health system.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,2798025a10,00.html

Jenkins · Posted: Wed Jan 28, 2004 6:18 pm Post subject:

I have small stones in my kidney. Is that considered as "significant kidney disease"?

John Miller · Posted: Wed Jan 28, 2004 6:40 pm Post subject:

Jenkins - sorry I don't know.

Update

My wife says this story was on the TV news tonight.

She says the story was that if your illness/disability or special provision for children's extra educational needs would cost more than about $20,000 over a 4 year period, you wouldn't be allowed in.

Jenkins · Posted: Wed Jan 28, 2004 7:47 pm Post subject:

If that's the case, I'll have it removed before I do my medical exam.
Thanks.

jbiggley · Posted: Wed Jan 28, 2004 8:21 pm Post subject:

That is rather disappointing news to me. My oldest is autistic and would require assistance, at a minimum, while at school. He is as healthy as an ox, but is has impaired thought and cognitive processes.

I certainly hope that our application, when it comes time to it, will not be rejected on his behalf. It seems a little elitest, doesn't it?

Josh

Silversmith · I'll Hang Around A Little Joined: 19 Nov 2003 Posts: 32

Forgive me if im stating the obvious, but arent all of us who are trying to get residency from the various ways available, arent we all going to have to go through this medical process already prior to this new announcement?

Grey · I Like It Here Joined: 05 Jan 2004 Posts: 74

richsadams · Posted: Fri Feb 06, 2004 1:36 pm Post subject: Medical Exams

All,

Here is the link to the actual press release from the NZIS regarding medical exams for immigrants:

http://www.immigration.govt.nz/NR/rdonlyres/D0ECF394-CFFD-4A57-8AF9-AF1F36C92B93/0/MediaReleaseHealthScreeningPRforPublic0104.doc

And here is their link to the FAQ's:

http://www.immigration.govt.nz/NR/rdonlyres/F740AEAD-C845-4D00-9E1A-1A5A4AA5FA9B/0/QAHealthScreening.doc

I'm not great at "government speak", Nutcase

but it appears the exams will be phased in over 2004 and may not apply right away.

Yes it's true - right now you must get what is basically a physical, a chest x-ray and a couple of blood tests before immigrating. But as mentioned, most of the current questions on the NZIS medical forms are based on the "honor system". Unless there is an obvious problem during the exam, people with some important medical issues could "forget" to mention them.

Good luck to us all! Yes

Gerry · Posted: Fri Feb 06, 2004 6:12 pm Post subject:

Actually, it had always amazed me how lax the entry requirements were! When I arrived I was required to have a blood test for syphilis, but not for AIDS, Hep, or conditions that might require dialysis. Keeping in mind that the NZ government is representing the population that funds the medical system, I never understood why I was not screened for things which could have restricted my ability to contribute to the community and would probably have cost the taxpayers a great deal.