C1.2.i. Is there any international guidance regarding medical examinations?

Guideline B1.2 of the MLC, 2006 advises that all persons concerned with the conduct of medical fitness examinations of seafarer candidates and serving seafarers should follow the ILO/WHO Guidelines for Conducting Pre-sea and Periodic Medical Fitness Examinations for Seafarers, including any subsequent versions, and any other applicable international guidelines published by the ILO, the International Maritime Organization or the World Health Organization.

In 2011, a Joint ILO/IMO Meeting on Medical Fitness Examinations of Seafarers and Ships’ Medicine Chests revised the existing ILO/WHO Guidelines for Conducting Pre-sea and Periodic Medical Fitness Examinations for Seafarers. The new ILO/IMO Guidelines on the medical examinations of seafarers can be viewed or downloaded on the ILO MLC, 2006 website

Medical certificate