KUWAIT CITY, Sept 20: The Ministry of Health has obtained approval from the regulatory authorities to directly import medicines for various types of cancer from manufacturers, reports Al-Qabas daily quoting sources. Sources revealed these medicines will be distributed to Hussein Makki Al-Juma Center for Specialized Surgery and other centers affiliated with Kuwait Cancer Control Center, indicating the contract value is KD 7.6 million. Sources affirmed the ministry is keen on regulating the distribution of medicines to patients, especially those suffering from cancer and chronic diseases. Sources added the Central Agency for Public Tenders (CAPT) also approved the purchase of medical supplies for conducting tests to detect AIDS and hepatitis viruses by using the nucleic acid technology, as the Central Blood Bank laboratory needs such supplies. Sources disclosed the cost of these supplies is estimated at KD 1.9 million. Sources explained these supplies are needed to ensure the safety of blood donation.

Purchase
Sources went on to say that the ministry will also purchase supplies used in X-rays at a cost of KD 927,000 and medicines for high blood sugar at a cost of KD 1.7 million. According to sources, the regulatory authorities approved as well the ministry’s request to float a tender to support, develop and operate the electronic medical file system at Jaber Al-Ahmad Hospital in the next phase, taking into consideration the upcoming transfer of citizens using services at Adan and Mubarak Al- Kabeer hospitals to Jaber Al-Ahmad Hospital. Meanwhile, the Environment Public Authority (EPA) has launched the ‘Retrieve Expired and Unused Medicines’ campaign, reports Al-Anba daily. In a statement to the daily, Director of the Public Relations and Media Department Sheikha Al-Ibrahim Proposal sent to amend Cabinet’s resolution No. 867/2001 on collecting in-kind donations KUWAIT CITY, Sept 20: The Minister of Commerce and Industry and the Minister of Social Affairs and Community Development Fahad Al- Shariaan submitted a proposal to the General Secretariat of the Council of Ministers with a request to reconsider and amend the Cabinet resolution No. 867/2001, reports Al-Anba daily.

In clause No. 7, the resolution stipulates suspension and removal of all types and forms of collection of clothing and surplus food items widespread in markets, mosques and public places for endowments, and to ensure that the collection happens inside mosques only. According to informed sources, Minister Al-Shariaan’s proposal stipulates that the resolution must be amended to allow charity organizations to collect in-kind donations in accordance with specific controls and mechanisms that are set by the Ministry of Social Affairs. This step came after the Kuwait Relief Society, one of the charitable organizations registered by the Ministry of Social Affairs submitted a request for the licensing of the project for collecting clothes inside Kuwait, in cooperation with a company specialized in selling used clothes.

The organization works on disbursing the sums collected from selling clothes to those who deserve it in needy countries. The idea of the project is for the company to receive the used items in the form of in-kind donations by registering the donors in the “Aounak” electronic application so that these items are received from the donors, registered in the application by the company and then sold so that the proceeds return to the licensed charitable organization projects. called on all those who have expired or unused medicines to participate in the campaign.

She explained this is aimed at addressing health problems caused by disposing expired medicines as part of household waste. She urged the public to hand over expired or unused medicines to the health centers in their areas for proper disposal. In the meantime, according to sources in the health sector, the Ministry of Health is keen to implement the provisions of the health insurance project for retirees “Afya-3”, according to obligations on health facilities, and within the framework of financial and technical control, to ensure that citizens benefit from the services available in the private medical sector without hindrance, reports Al-Qabas daily.

Credit
This came as the project came into force at the beginning of this week, with a credit balance of KD 15.5 thousand in each card out of a total of 117 thousand cards distributed so far. The sources indicated that the Ministry of Health distributed Afya- 3 cards to retired citizens from July 24 to September 15 through 44 health centers across the country. They said the law on providing health insurance services for this category is aimed to enable the beneficiaries to obtain health care in the private sector, according to a wide medical network, either in hospitals, specialized centers or clinics.

The sources highlighted the ministry’s keenness to implement financial and technical control in the project by inspecting the competent teams of health facilities in the private sector, and checking the procedures of practitioners and medical and nursing staff for laboratory and radiological examinations that are conducted on male and female citizens, with the aim of non-exaggeration in the fees for some medical procedures, such as X Rays, operations and tests, which may drain the balance of the insurance cover. hey explained that the intensification of the control measures by the ministry contributed, in previous stages, to rationalizing spending and protecting the rights of patients, which is why the ministry is keen to continue implementation in order to preserve the rights of card holders, and to benefit for longer periods of card services.

Transfer
The ministry is studying the transfer of the complaints department related to the insurance of retirees from the agency executing the project to the ministry soon in order to ensure that any challenges that stand in the way of receiving medical care are easily and quickly resolved. The sources highlighted the cancellation of health facilities that were assigned to provide medical care as part of the Afya project in the previous period for not complying with the terms of the agreement and clearly violating them, as well as the issuance of a number of citations and warnings to some of them for violations detected during field inspection tours by the ministry’s teams.

They revealed that the ministry’s teams are implementing surprise field inspections twice a week at about 2,000 hospitals, centers and health facilities. Earlier last week, the Assistant Undersecretary for External Health Services Affairs at the Ministry of Health Dr. Yacoub Al-Tammar revealed the distribution of 107 thousand new Afya-3 cards to retired citizens out of 156 thousand, since the start of the distribution of the cards on July 24. In a press statement, Dr. Al- Tammar explained that out of the 107,000 retirees to whom the new Afya cards were distributed, 1,316 requests for delivery were registered for retired people with severe disabilities, of which 755 cards were delivered within six days of the launch of the service.

Delivery
The delivery of the card was done with the cooperation of the Gulf Insurance Group by calling the number 1811110 to register the data and set the date for the delivery of the card. The delivery service of the Afya cards for retired people with severe disabilities came in implementation of the directives of the Minister of Health Dr. Khaled Al-Saeed to help those who are unable to receive health insurance cards Afya-3 from the designated centers. The delivery service for retirees with severe disabilities will continue throughout the contract period, which is two years. The new Afya-3 card will be activated on September 16, and this will be the last date for the validity of the old Afya-2 card.