Hike in health charges for expats inching closer for implementation
MoH to deposit June salaries for ‘pay-for-work’ system staff on 15th
KUWAIT CITY, June 10: The increase in health charges for expatriates is inching closer towards implementation after being postponed from its mid-February deadline, reports Al-Rai daily.
Minister of Health Dr Jamal Al-Harbi said he will meet the Council of Undersecretaries of the ministry immediately after the Eid Al-Fitr holidays to discuss the issue.
Al-Harbi confirmed the meeting and subsequent meetings will lead to a gradual increase in fees. First, the ministry will target the visitors and gradually the expatriate residents.
Al-Harbi said the increase is inevitable, and that the fees on services will be brought on par with the private hospitals.
The increase in fees was approved based on a study undertaken by the ministry to review the charges for services provided by the state to visiting expatriates and added, the fees even after the increase shall be 20 percent less than charged by the private hospitals.
Fees
The study has approved increasing fees for radiation and services of medical laboratories, which are calculated at 20 percent less than charged by the private hospitals.
For devices and radiation which are not available at private hospitals, such as nuclear radiation, the expatriates shall have to pay 50 percent of the operating costs.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Health will deposit the June salaries of its Kuwaiti and expatriate employees under the ‘pay-for-work’ system to their bank accounts on June 15 — before the Eid Al-Fitr holidays, reports Al-Anba daily quoting sources.
Sources confirmed the Financial Affairs Sector in the ministry has addressed all assistant undersecretaries, health districts, central departments and payroll departments regarding the payment of June salaries to these employees on the aforementioned date.
Sources said the sector has requested for the names of nearly 3,000 employees under the ‘pay-for-work’ system to process disbursement of their salaries along with other ministry staff within this week.
KUWAIT CITY, June 10, (KUNA): Kuwait continues this week to offer help to needy people and the less fortunate around the globe.
On Thursday, KRCS in cooperation with the United Iraqi Medical Society (UIMS) started delivering a new consignment of food relief in the holy month of Ramadan to evacuees from the conflict-ravaged Mosul city, north Iraq.
The assistance includes 4,000 food parcels donated by KRCS as part of “Kuwait is by your side” campaign, UIMS Chairman Ahmad Al-Haity said.
“A total of 750 parcels have been delivered in Al-Yarmouk district, in the western part of Mosul, and the remaining will be distributed in the coming three days.
“The delivery was supervised by Kuwait Embassy in Baghdad and the crisis management center of the Iraqi prime minister’s office,” he added.
Al-Haity expressed gratitude to the State of Kuwait under His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, His Highness the Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah and His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah, for the generous aid to the internally displaced persons in Iraq. Also on Thursday, Kuwait has agreed to provide $4 million to the Palestinian authority for supporting the industrial and agricultural sectors, said Minister Public Works Mufid Al-Hasaynah.
The minister, in a statement broadcast by the official Palestinian news agency, WAFA, said it had been agreed upon to allocate USD four million for the Palestinian authority as part of the Kuwaiti grant to rebuild Gaza, divided into $3.5 million in support of industrial installations, in addition to USD half million that would be disbursed for the agricultural sector.
He indicated that the new installment would be disbursed as soon as possible.
Assistance
The assistance is part of the $200 million grant, declared at the donors’ conference in Cairo in 2014. On Monday, President of the United Republic of Tanzania, John Magufuli praised Kuwait’s role in supporting his country’s vital humanitarian and infrastructural projects.
President Magufuli made the remarks during his reception of Kuwait Ambassador to Tanzania Jassem Al-Najem, said an embassy statement received by KUNA.
The Tanzanian President added that Kuwait’s efforts were deeply recognized through providing urgent humanitarian aid and digging 27 wells in the capital Dodoma in face of the drought season that swept through the African continent.
Acknowledging the significant role played by Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development (KFAED), Magufuli invited the Fund to visit Tanzania and consider supporting and financing a number of infrastructural projects, especially the new highway project in Dodoma.
He pledged to name the highway after His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah AlAhmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah.
Last March, Tanzania signed a $-51-million loan agreement with KFAED. The loan agreement aims to finance ‘Nyahua-Chaya Road’ project, which links Tanzania to Rwanda and Burundi, to increase commercial movement along 85 kilometers.
On his part, Ambassador Al-Najem said Kuwait would continue to play a leading role in humanitarian aid regionally and in the international arena.
The ambassador also praised efforts exerted by KFAED and other Kuwaiti entities in providing assistant to Tanzania and its people.
The relief committee of Lebanon’s Dar Al-Fatwa (Fatwa House) on Tuesday announced a project to provide food aid during the fasting month of Ramadan, financed by the Kuwait Awqaf Public Foundation (KAPF), and under supervision of Kuwait’s Zakat House.