Planning a trip to the United Kingdom? Get ready to undertake medical examination.

Yes, visitors from India could be compelled to take tests for tuberculosis before coming to the UK, if the British government’s proposed scheme in this regard is implemented.

“Currently, we have a pilot project with seven countries — countries in which TB is the most prevalent — in which we test people before they receive their visas.This scheme is now being evaluated and I think we will probably roll it out to more countries like China and India,” the Daily Mail  quoted Government Whip Baroness Royall of Blaisdon as saying. The move is an attempt by the Labour government to curb the rise in the potentially fatal disease, which usually affects lungs and spreads by an infected person coughing or sneezing.

Experts had attacked ministers  for the government’s failure to act, after it was revealed that Britain was the only western European nation experiencing a sustained rise in TB cases.

Around 400 patients die from the disease every year, mainly due to late diagnosis, the daily reported, stating that in 2005, there was an 11 per cent rise in TB cases, compared with 2004.