KUWAIT CITY, Dec 1: The Ministry of Health has presented a proposal to the Civil Service Commission (CSC) on increasing the salaries of Kuwaiti and non-Kuwaiti doctors by 40 to 60 percent, reports Al-Dar daily quoting official health sources.

The sources explained the amount of the increment will be based on rank of the doctors, adding that estimated cost for the new pay scale is KD5 to 7 million — an amount acceptable to the government. Sources said proposal includes granting housing and furniture allowances to the doctors permanently, in addition to the private schooling for three children for each doctor if the same scheme for university and applied education professors is approved. It also states that a doctor with a board certificate will be entitled to a specialization allowance.

In another development, the GCC Health Ministers’ Office has approved the proposed electronic linking of the accredited medical examination centers for expatriates in the GCC, reports Al-Rai daily quoting Chief Executive Officer at the office Dr Tawfif Khoja.

Affirming that the system will be implemented soon, Khoja said an article has been added to the bylaws of the bill, which will be applied in the centers to ensure the fair distribution of workers in GCC countries, as well as prevent the forging of health certificates and medical reports. He stressed the need to submit the medical reports to the office to ensure strict compliance with the law.

Disclosing the digital X-ray system will be used in the accredited centers, Khoja explained the decision came after the experimental operation of the system yielded positive results, such as the accurate diagnosis of patients and verification of medical reports. He said the system has been tested since 1995, adding some examination centers in Egypt, Sudan, Syria and some countries in East Asia have been accredited.

Khoja added the previous statistical report showed that 20-25 percent of expatriates from Southeast Asia had been found to be suffering from infectious and chronic diseases, but the figure declined to seven percent after the implementation of the system and now stands at five percent. “In previous years, we found that 400,000 out of two million foreigners who visited the country had infectious or chronic diseases, but now we discovered only 60,000,” he concluded.