KUWAIT CITY, Oct 29: Minister of Health (MoH), Dr Hilal Al-Sayer recently issued a decision requiring government and private hospitals to vaccinate newborn babies against hepatitis B within 24 hours of their birth, reports Al-Jarida daily quoting sources.
Sources said the minister issued the decision before heading to the US on an official visit, along with other members of the health team, as part of preparations for the signing of agreements with top universities in the world.
Sources added the minister has also instructed the hospitals to register each vaccinated baby and send their records to the Anti-Epidemic Unit in the general health departments of the private and government sectors.
Sources explained Clause 3 of the decision stipulates that the gynecologists and obstetricians in private and government hospitals should notify the unit in case a pregnant woman is infected with hepatitis B, so the necessary actions are immediately taken to protect the mother and baby. The decision also calls for early detection to vaccinate a premature baby if the mother is suffering from the disease.
In another development, Assistant Undersecretary for Administrative Affairs Marzouq Al-Rasheedi the proposed salary increment for the administrative staff in the ministry will be forwarded soon to the Civil Service Commission (CSC).
Al-Rasheedi confirmed about 800 signatures have been collected to push for the approval of the new salary scale, especially since the employees are currently receiving salaries less than their counterparts in other ministries.
Moreover, sources said the ministry is in the process of procuring 35 ambulances for the emergency unit to improve its services. Sources revealed the ministry will sign a contract worth KD 114,480 with a local clearing company, which will be in charge of clearing the consignments.
In the meantime, Kuwait Nurses Association Head Kanhan Al-Enezi demanded exemption of the nurses from the fingerprint attendance system. She claimed the nurses usually suffer as they have to wait in long queues just to log in and out of work.
Al-Enezi also stressed the need to increase the salaries of Bedoun nurses, who are paid based on the services they render and are not entitled to privileges like paid annual or maternity leaves.
Meanwhile, participants at a seminar on “Pre-marital Checkup for Better Life” organized by the Kuwait Volunteers for Community Service, under the auspices of Chairperson of the Health Committee Dr Hind Al-Shomar stressed on the need to go through medical tests to avoid hereditary diseases which are common in the Arabian Peninsula due to inter-family marriages, reports Al-Watan Arabic daily.
They noted the law incriminates individuals getting married without providing pre-marriage medical results. The seminar was part of campaign for healthy marriage, which the group organizes annually. The participants included the Director of Investigation Affairs in the Ministry of Health (MoH) Dr Mahmoud Abdulhadi, the Director of Social Health and Chairperson of Pre-Marital Medical Checkup Centers Dr Yaqoub Al-Kanderi.