KUWAIT CITY, March 17, (Agencies): The Ministry of Health insists on subjecting expatriate workers to medical checkup and blood analyses in order to ensure health safety and security in the country, a senior health official said here Wednesday.
“Health security in the country is a red line. The Ministry of Health cannot give up its right to conduct medical checkup for incoming laborers,” the ministry’s assistant undersecretary for public health, Yussif al-Nesf told KUNA.
The Kuwaiti official made the remarks in response to recent local press reports suggesting there were some violations of medical procedures for foreign workers, especially hepatitis C patients.
Dismissing such reports, the official said: “What has been reported are just old documents that date back to past years.” The ministry has formed technical panels of specialized doctors and legal researchers with a view to checking the soundness and reliability of such medical procedures, he added.
Hepatitis C is an infectious disease affecting the liver, caused by the hepatitis C virus (HCV). The infection is often asymptomatic, but once established, chronic infection can progress to scarring of the liver, and advanced scarring (cirrhosis) which is generally apparent after many years.
The hepatitis C virus (HCV) is spread by blood-to-blood contact.
Meanwhile, the Arab Health Ministers Conference held in Cairo, Egypt last week focused on the recommendations of the Arab Authority for Blood Transfusion, which has been authorized by the Arab health ministers to look into issues concerning blood safety, Central Blood Bank Director Dr Reem Al-Radhwan told Al-Anba daily.
Al-Radhwan is part of an official delegation that accompanied Minister of Health Dr Hilal Al-Sayer to the conference.
On the proposed establishment of a stem cell bank, Al-Radhwan confirmed they have obtained approval, in principle, as the senior ministry officials are keen on expediting procedures for the implementation of this project.  She added the bank will be affiliated to the Blood Transfusion Department. 
In another development, Al-Sayer has refused to comment on the latest report of the US State Department, which highlighted the lack of competent medical personnel in Kuwaiti jails, but he affirmed the ministry “will reply soon”, reports Al-Anba daily.
The report also touched on the problems of Bedouns, particularly the fact that they have been deprived of their right to obtain birth certificates.