KATHMANDU: The Ministry of Labour, Employment, and Social Security has temporarily suspended medical testing services provided by 70 health institutes for individuals seeking foreign employment.

The decision comes after the Ministry’s notice on January 26 instructing these institutes to meet specific criteria.

Following a monitoring initiative that began on August 29, covering 213 health institutes, both inside and outside the Kathmandu Valley, it was found that 70 institutes failed to meet the specified criteria, resulting in the suspension of their services.

Due to concerns with the listed health facilities in Nepal, host countries like Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, Israel, and South Korea have independently chosen health institutes here to conduct medical tests.

Qatar has centralized all medical tests within the Qatar Visa Centre.