Mandatory medical check-up may be introduced for Uzbek citizens who have returned from abroad.
For citizens who have been abroad for more than three months, a mandatory medical examination may be introduced to prevent the spread of infections...
Mandatory medical examinations may be introduced for citizens who have been abroad for more than three months to prevent the spread of infections, a representative of the Prosecutor General's Office of Uzbekistan said. The agency also plans to prepare a bill to tighten responsibility for early marriages.
After a meeting with the President on July 8, Deputy Head of the Office of the Prosecutor General of Uzbekistan Murodbek Makhmudov spoke about new measures to strengthen control over citizens returning from abroad, as well as work to prevent early marriages.
"Currently, there is no mandatory medical examination for citizens who have been abroad for more than three months and returned home. This creates a risk of late detection of infectious diseases and their spread in the country," Makhmudov said in an interview with Uzbekistan 24 TV channel.
According to him, the information system of the Border Troops, the Mahalla Association, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Ministry of Health will be integrated to solve this problem.
"This will allow returning citizens to be counted immediately upon crossing the border, immediately send them for a medical examination and maintain a unified accounting system," he explained.
Murodbek Makhmudov also spoke about measures to prevent early marriages and childbirth. "The systems of the Prosecutor General's Office and the Ministry of Justice have been integrated to strengthen control. This made it possible to stop cases of concealment of early births and ensure their timely detection and adoption of measures," he said.
He stressed that the president had instructed to prepare a bill to tighten responsibility for early marriages. "It has also been instructed to develop a draft law on the revision of liability for intentional minor bodily injury resulting in a health disorder," the representative of the Prosecutor General's Office added.
According to Makhmudov, special attention is being paid to the introduction of information and communication technologies to monitor persons registered for probation.
Gazeta has sent a request to the Prosecutor General's Office regarding plans to introduce mandatory medical examinations in order to get details and find out if this is related to the law, which obliges citizens returning to Uzbekistan after a 90-day absence to be tested for HIV. On July 8, the Legislative Chamber of the Oliy Majlis adopted amendments obliging Uzbek citizens to undergo HIV testing after traveling abroad, and sent the law to the Senate for consideration. In 2024, of the 1.7 million who returned from abroad, 25% underwent voluntary HIV testing, and 1,512 people were diagnosed with the virus.
Nodirbek Tilavoldiev, a deputy from the Milliy Tiklanish party, commenting on the law, said that "there is not a single country in the world that obliges its citizens to take such a test." The Migration Agency said that in the future other countries may adopt the experience of Uzbekistan.