‘Revoke implementation of new health service fees for expats’
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KHRS cites instances of patients quitting medication
KUWAIT CITY, Oct 16: Kuwait Society for Human Rights (KHRS) has issued a statement imploring the Ministry of Health to revoke implementation of the new health service fees for expatriates, reports Al-Rai daily.
Statement added KHRS has since recorded many cases where patients have quit medical treatment, because they can’t afford it anymore. It described the decision, which was activated on Oct 1, 2017 as tragic, saying recent statistic of the Health Ministry indicates the number of visitors to the health centers and clinics has reduced by 30 percent.
It maintained the decision will adversely affect the health of expatriates despite the positive outcome in the reduction of the number of visitors to the health facilities — according to the ministry’s point of view. It noted Newton’s law of motion indicates that ‘every action has an equal and opposite reaction’. It also recounted a story circulated on social media recently about an expatriate who died as a result of a clot in the heart after he went to the hospital for treatment and was obliged to leave the same day instead of keeping him under observation in the hospital for days.
Statement said the constant exclusion of some categories from the new health fees by the ministry go against the decision, which he stressed, wasn’t studied properly before implementation.
It argued that many categories of expatriates such as security and cleaning workers whose salaries are below KD 100 should be exempted from the decision. It cited several instances where patients subjected to medical error are obliged to pay before completing treatment, although they are victims of others’ error.
An expatriate went to the clinic and paid two dinars for consultation. He was referred to a hospital for surgery where he paid additional KD 10. He left the hospital and forgot about the surgery when he was asked again to take an X-ray for KD 120. Another patient with bad back went to the hospital and made deposit of KD 50 and again spent KD 10 each day. Meanwhile, several cleaning workers at Al-Faraj Mosque have pleaded with concerned authorities to ensure payment of their salary, which has been delayed for roughly four months, reports Al-Shahed daily
. The laborers requested the authorities to intervene to end their suffering, stressing the company that employs them signed contract with the Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs to supply cleaning workers but delays in paying their salaries.
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