Japan begins mandatory TB screening for visitors staying over 3-months
TOKYO: Japan on Monday introduced mandatory pre-arrival tuberculosis (TB) screening for foreign nationals planning to stay in the country for more than three months, starting with those from the Philippines and Nepal, a government official said.
Kyodo News Agency reported that Vietnam is expected to be added to the list in September, followed by Indonesia, Myanmar and China.
The number of foreign nationals diagnosed with the infectious disease while in Japan has been rising, with most cases involving individuals from the six countries, according to the Health, Labour and Welfare Ministry.
The screening requirement will initially apply to citizens who normally reside in the Philippines and Nepal and plan to stay in Japan on a mid- to long-term basis.
Travellers will be required to provide proof that they are not infected with TB before arrival or risk being denied entry.
While TB is both curable and preventable, it killed an estimated 1.25 million people in 2023 and is likely to have regained its position as the world's deadliest infectious disease after briefly being overtaken by COVID-19, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO).
In Japan, the number of TB cases fell below 10 per 100,000 people for the first time in 2021, reaching 9.2 and placing the country in the WHO's low-incidence category. The rate declined further to 8.1 in 2023, according to the latest data from the health ministry. — BERNAMA
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