Seafarers shall not work on a ship in Cameroon unless they are certified as medically fit to perform their duties.
The competent authority shall require that, prior to beginning work on a ship, seafarers hold a valid medical certificate attesting that they are medically fit to perform the duties they are to carry out at sea.
In order to ensure that medical certificates genuinely reflect seafarers’ state of health, in light of the duties they are to perform, the competent authority shall, after consultation with the shipowners’ and seafarers’ organizations concerned, and giving due consideration to applicable international guidelines referred to the Code, prescribe the nature of the medical examination and certificate.
This Standard is without prejudice to the International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers, 1978, as amended (“STCW”). A medical certificate issued in accordance with the requirements of STCW shall be accepted by the competent authority. A medical certificate meeting the substance of those requirements, in the case of sea farers not covered by STCW, shall similarly be accepted.
The medical certificate shall be issued by a duly qualified medical practitioner or, in the case of a certificate solely concerning eyesight, by a person recognized by the competent authority as qualified to issue such a certificate. Practitioners must enjoy full professional independence in exercising their medical judgement in under taking medical examination procedures.
Seafarers that have been refused a certificate or have had a limitation imposed on their ability to work, in particular with respect to time, field of work or trading area, shall be given the opportunity to have a further examination by another in dependent medical practitioner or by an independent medical referee.
Mandatory Statements in the Medical Certificate
Each medical certificate shall state in particular that:
(a) The hearing and sight of the seafarer concerned, and the colour vision in the case of a seafarer to be employed in capacities where fitness for the work to be performed is liable to be affected by defective colour vision, are all satisfactory; and
(b) The seafarer concerned is not suffering from any medical condition likely to be aggravated by service at sea or to render the seafarer unfit for such service or to endanger the health of other persons on board.
Unless a shorter period is required by reason of the specific duties to be performed by the seafarer concerned or is required under STCW:
(a) A medical certificate shall be valid for a maximum period of two years unless the seafarer is under the age of 18, in which case the maximum period of validity shall be one year;
(b) A certification of colour vision shall be valid for a maximum period of six years.
In urgent cases the competent authority may permit a seafarer to work without a valid medical certificate until the next port of call where the seafarer can obtain a medical certificate from a qualified medical practitioner, provided that:
(a) The period of such permission does not exceed three months; and
(b) The seafarer concerned is in possession of an expired medical certificate of recent date.
If the period of validity of a certificate expires in the course of a voyage, the certificate shall continue in force until the next port of call where the seafarer can obtain a medical certificate from a qualified medical practitioner, provided that the period shall not exceed three months.
The medical certificates for seafarers working on ships ordinarily engaged on international voyages must as a minimum be provided in English.
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