Dr David Nabarro

KUWAIT CITY, Jan 9: Special Adviser to the United Nations (UN) Secretary-General on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and Climate Change and the United Kingdom’s nominee for the post of World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Dr David Nabarro has praised the tremendous efforts exerted by the Kuwaiti government in overcoming health challenges, wishing for provision of adequate health services for everybody, reports Al-Qabas daily.In an interview with the daily during his visit to the country, Nabarro revealed that obesity, diabetes and hypertension are considered challenges to human development here. According to Nabarro, Health Minister Dr Jamal Al-Harbi informed him during their meeting that one of the ministry’s priorities is to lessen the need for overseas treatment.Nabarro, who has long years of experience in world health and sustainable development, pointed out Kuwait still needs the support of WHO in spite of its remarkable efforts in improving healthcare. Affirming the significance of diversifying sources of income to build a strong economy, Nabarra disclosed one of the weak points of Kuwait is its dependence of oil.Meanwhile, the Public Authority for Handicapped Affairs (PAHA) is keen on strictly applying the Disability Act which is expected to lead to the cancellation of more than 75 files as several persons allegedly claimed to have disabilities just to benefit from the financial privileges granted to this sector, reports Al-Rai daily quoting sources. Sources revealed Minister of Social Affairs and Labor and Minister of State for Economic Affairs Hind Al-Subaih has instructed the concerned personnel, legal workers and consultants to ensure precision in reviewing the handicapped files in order to avoid depriving the deserving categories of their rights and privileges. Sources said the minister also stressed the need to strictly apply the law on those proven to have committed violations.Furthermore, the concerned officials in the Ministry of Electricity and Water met their counterparts in the State Audit Bureau to discuss the latter’s comments on the performance of various sectors in the ministry, reports Al-Seyassah daily quoting sources. Sources confirmed that the ministry officials promised to avoid repeating the irregularities observed by the bureau.They added the two parties consolidated their viewpoints on the comments of the bureau, stressing the ministry is ready to tackle these comments with the Budget Committee in the National Assembly on Jan 16, 2017.