DOHA: The online registration for the mandatory health check up at the Medical Commission will soon be available to individuals, besides companies, a senior official said yesterday. The service is currently restricted to companies and allows them to register their workers seeking the check up online and take prior appointments. “We are planning to expand the service to more categories and hope to implement it in two months. In the initial phase, the service would be made available to certain categories of professionals and food handlers. It will be further expanded to include other categories at a later stage,” Dr Ibrahim Al Shaar, director of the Medical Commission told this newspaper yesterday. “Food handlers” are people working with restaurants and similar outlets who are required to undergo the tests every year while seeking a renewal of their health certificates. The online service is now available to all the companies registered with the e-government. Individuals holding the new smart ID cards would also be able to use it through the e-government portal, hinted the official. The online registration will help reduce the rush and crowding at the Medical Commission by scheduling appointments. Meanwhile, the Commission received an unusually high number of women visitors immediately after the Eid Al Fitr holidays. “We had about 900 women visitors on Monday which was a high number. Normally we see 400 to 500 women visitors including families and housemaids,” said Al Shaar. “Yesterday (Tuesday) also we had a high number of women visitors but we were able to finish the proceedings by noon,” he added. He said a rise in the number of families visiting the country during Ramadan and Eid had contributed to the rush. A number of newly recruited women teachers joining various schools in the country in the new academic year are also currently seeking the tests at the Medical Commission, Many Qatari families are brining their newly recruited housemaids for the tests after the Eid holidays, since they didn’t want to do it during Ramadan. THE PENINSULA

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