ABU DHABI, Aug. 1 (Xinhua) -- The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is mulling a new policy that will make mandatory for expatriate jobseekers to produce HIV/AIDS-free certificates from their home countries, local newspaper Khaleej Times reported on Wednesday.

    The UAE Ministry of Health is working on a law to this effect in cooperation with the Ministry of Labor and other federal ministries to ensure that the expatriate labor force was free of disease, Ali bin Shukur, under-secretary of the ministry, was quoted as saying.

    "This measure will be part of a comprehensive project to be implemented in coordination with governments of several countries exporting labor force to the UAE," Shukur added.

    The certificate will be an initial document to enter the country. Once the expatriates arrive, they will again be screened for HIV/AIDS for issuance of employment visa.

    "In some developing countries, the diagnosis and screening systems might not be up to the mark, and the results may be unreliable. That's why double-checking is vital," he said.

    Another reason for repeating the tests was the possibility of forging of medical documents by unscrupulous recruitment agencies, he added.

    According to official records, in 2006, a total of 750 expatriates out of the 1.5 million screened for HIV/AIDS for issuance of employment visas were found carrying the virus.

    With 645 reported cases of AIDS among nationals at the end of 2006, the UAE has one of the lowest numbers of reported AIDS cases in the world over the past few years.

    The country has a total population of 4.1 million, of whom 78.1 percent are expatriates, according to official figures.