KUWAIT CITY, March 29: Health Minister Dr. Ahmad Al-Awadhi said that pharmacists, through their competencies, are considered key actors in the treatment chain and play a fundamental role in the health system. In his speech during a Ramadan Ghabga held by the Kuwait Pharmacists Association on Tuesday, the Minister of Health stressed the importance of the role played by workers in the pharmacy sector, indicating that there are ministerial committees dedicated to this sector and this is the biggest evidence of its importance.

He called on workers in this field, whether in the ministry or in the private sector, to submit proposals that could contribute to the issuance of decisions and laws that enhance integration between the government and private sectors. He appreciated the distinguished efforts of pharmacists in hospitals, specialized centers, primary care, and central administrations, noting the challenges they face in checking medications, dispensing, and many other tasks that they do. In turn, the Director of the Medical Warehouses Department at the Ministry of Health, Dr. Adel Al-Salem, said that the ministry is concerned with pricing medicine and preserving price manipulation, pointing out that prices are reviewed periodically within specific controls, taking care to reduce the prices of many medicines.

Al-Salem pointed out that the prices in Kuwait are close to their counterparts in the Gulf countries. Indeed, some medicines in Kuwait may be less expensive than those in neighboring countries, indicating that the Ministry is always keen to provide various types of medicines and that the issue of shortage of some types is not limited to Kuwait only, but it is a global issue and has many reasons, including the unavailability of raw materials, the increase in prices and means of transportation. He pointed out that the Ministry is working continuously to provide medicines, but there are issues that may be out of control. On a related note, Dr. Al-Salem said that the law of practicing the profession of pharmacy has reached the stage of the final draft, and it will be submitted during the next few days to the Undersecretary of the Ministry to take the necessary measures. (KUNA)