Kuwait Plans Another System to Improve Health Services

The health insurance system is not a guarantee for providing the public with the best medical services, reports Al-Seyassah daily quoting Assistant Undersecretary for Planning and Quality at the Ministry of Health Dr Waled Al-Falah. Proposing the establishment of another system for excellent health services and recognition, Al-Falah disclosed the ministry has been applying the recognition system in public hospitals, in collaboration with a relevant Canadian council. He said the ministry will later apply the system in clinics and health centers. Affirming the workshop on health insurance and medical services organized recently by the ministry was successful, Al-Falah explained the workshop was for assistant undersecretaries, as well as the directors of health zones, administrative departments and hospitals.

“During the workshop, we discovered that the implementation of the health insurance system is not a simple issue as there are some factors that should be taken into consideration for successful execution. There is no standard health insurance scheme in the world, hence, the emergence of various programs with their own advantages and disadvantages. The type of system a particular country implements is reflected in the provision of services,” Al-Falah concluded. The Assistant Undersecretary for Financial Affairs at the Ministry of Health Abdul-Fattah Al-Asmawy says there is no slackness on the side of the ministry in the collection of health insurance fees from the ministries and other government institutes, reports Al-Dar daily. In a statement to the daily, Al-Asmawy touched on the report of the Audit Bureau about the ministry delaying the collection of health insurance fees estimated at KD 9,140,386 from various government institutions.

He stressed the ministry has submitted many requests to the ministries and other government institutions in question to pay the overdue health insurance fees. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Health is expected to present three tenders in March concerning the setting up of eight hospitals by 2016 to increase the carrying capacity maintained of the present hospitals by 5,350 beds, reports Al-Anba daily quoting reliable sources. According to the sources, the Ministry of Public Works will modify the contents of the tenders to suit the needs of the Ministry of Health. They said the projects will be divided into three groups – one group per tender. The first group will include Jahra Hospital and a maternity hospital, the second group will include Amiri and Adan Hospitals and the third group will include Al-Razi and Ibn Sina Hospitals, in addition to a hospital each for pediatrics and physiotherapy.

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