KUWAIT CITY, Oct 25: After the Ministry of Health suspended the work of overseas treatment committees in all public and specialized hospitals a few days ago until further notice, some Kuwaiti patients suffering from critical illnesses are facing problems at home and abroad. Among those cases are those who received approvals for their overseas treatment before the decision is issued, and some others who are still receiving treatment abroad but do not know their fate amid demands made by health institutions for entitlements to treatment for citizens there, reports Al-Qabas daily.

The ministry clarified that the suspension will stay until the global epidemiological situation caused by COVID-19 pandemic improves, based on the indicators set by the World Health Organization and given the high number of COVID-19 cases in most countries of the world, especially countries where Kuwaiti citizens are sent to receive treatment.

While the financial claims made by hospitals and international medical centers to the Ministry of Health for the payment of the accumulated sums for treatment of citizens over the past years reached KD 350 million dinars, the patients receiving treatment abroad are placed in embarrassing situations related to their demand to leave the health facility in which they are receiving treatment outside the country, like what happened to the citizen Wadha Al-Yaqout.

Knee replacement

Kuwaiti citizen Mona Al-Yaqout revealed the suffering of her sister Wadha Al-Yaqout while she was receiving treatment in a medical institute in Washington.

She explained that her sister left Kuwait in October 2018 on a military plane belonging to the Ministry of Defense because of her weight and the knee problems she was suffering from.

Her sick sister, who is in her 70s, arrived in Washington to receive treatment, but health complications occurred there that required the installation of a new knee for her, instead of the one that was installed 14 years ago in Germany. Her knee was replaced with a device that can clean off the bacteria from its position.

The hospital administration later informed her sister of her need to leave the hospital, given the large amounts owed by Kuwait's Ministry of Health and lack of response from the Health Office in Washington.

She was then transferred to a nursing home affiliated to the Elderly Administration in Washington where she has been staying since April, and where she is receiving unsuitable treatment.

Financial cost

Al-Yaqout stressed that her sister decided to return to Kuwait recently, but then it was discovered that she was infected with the coronavirus and was returned to the elderly home again.

She revealed that her two daughters are accompanying their aunt there, and she sends her own money and medicines to them, as the ministry disburses financial allocations for only one companion.

Al-Yaqout called on the Ministry of Health to transfer her sister from the elderly home to a hospital that specializes in knee treatment in America, before bringing her back to Kuwait, as it is difficult for her to return to the country in light of her current health conditions.