TB screening to begin

By Andrew Stackpool

GROUND-based members of the ADF who are deploying to the Middle East Area of Operations (MEAO) are to undergo a regime of pre-deployment and post-deployment screens for tuberculosis (TB).

The decision follows an announcement by the World Health Organisation that Iraq has been declared a high-risk area for the disease.

Lieutenant Colonel Carmel van der Rijt from Defence Health Services said that members who are not ground-based are not considered at risk and will not be screened, however, they will be able to request a screening.

“The decision to conduct the test will be based on an assessment of the clinical risk at the time,” she said.

Lieutenant Colonel van der Rijt stressed that while the majority of ADF personnel working on the ground are not in danger of high-risk exposure, Defence has a duty of care to ensure they are screened.

Defence meets its duty of care to members of the ADF by providing appropriate medical support, vaccinations and screenings to anyone who may be exposed to the risk of infection, before, during and on return from operations.

“As part of that duty of care, and as part of their deployment requirements, personnel deploying on operations are appropriately prepared, equipped and trained for the operations they are undertaking. This is undertaken in accordance with the specific risk and threat assessment for the particular operation.

“For all operations the ADF develops a range of health precautions, according to the threat scenario, to ensure the health and well-being of personnel in the environment in which they will operate.

“Our personnel are our most important assets, and as part of our duty of care, we will establish a regime to conduct pre-deployment testing as required and post deployment testing for TB of all ground based ADF members conducting operations in the MEAO.”

TB or not TB?

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