Gamca clinics continue to exploit OFWs

MANILA, Philippines - Filipino nurse Sitti Rashidam Abdul thought that she had finally fulfilled her dream of working in Saudi Arabia after passing a hiring firm’s standards, only to be denied that opportunity by a failed medical test administered by an exclusive group of clinics.Abdul is just one of the many Filipinos who wished to work in Saudi Arabia but were not allowed after failing to pass the exam administered by member clinics of the Gulf Cooperation Council-(GCC) Accredited Medical Clinics Association (Gamca).Under Saudi hiring policies, foreign workers from the Philippines and other Asian countries are required to pass the medical tests conducted only by Gamca clinics that use the “referral decking system."The “referral decking system" is a centralized medical referral decking system established in 2001 by GCC states — Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain supposedly to stop the proliferation of fake medical certificates and the transfer of communicable diseases from foreign workers to citizens of the GCC-member countries. read more......................