By Park Si-soo
Staff Reporter
Almost nine out of ten foreign labors here are vulnerable to illness, a research said Monday.
According to a survey of 746 migrant workers here by the Hanshin Medipia, more than 87 percent or 650 workers had at least one illness or germs that can cause diseases.
Problems with circulatory function were the most common, it said. The workers with circulatory illnesses accounted for 67 percent or 499, followed by digestion-concerned diseases with 42 percent, endocrine problems with 25 percent and urinary infections with 4.4 percent. Those with respiratory diseases came next with 2.9 percent.
Workers from Nepal, Argentina, Uzbekistan, and Thailand were most vulnerable to illnesses here. All workers from the four countries showed positive test for health problems.
Of 27 Russian workers tested, 26 or 96 percent showed test positive for an illness, followed by Workers from Bangladesh with 92.1 percent and Cambodian workers with 50 percent.
``We found foreign workers in Korea are much more vulnerable than Koreans. It would decrease significantly should they undergo preventive medical treatments on a regular basis as many Koreans do,'' said Kang Dae-gi, head of Hanshin Medipia.