Few public hospital doctors know rates of medicines, medical equipment: study
Deciding on ‘shisha’ usage not Municipality jurisdiction
KUWAIT CITY, Nov 16: According to a study conducted by a number of researchers from College of Business Administration, College of Life Sciences and Faculty of Allied Health Sciences at Kuwait University, very few doctors are aware of the prices of medicines and medical equipment, reports Al-Qabas daily.
The study was conducted on a sample of 104 doctors who work in public hospitals.
They affirmed that doctors must know the prices of medicines and medical equipment in order for them to be able to subscribe the most suitable treatments that suit different patients.
The doctors managed to estimate the prices of 22 percent of the medicines and 14 percent of the medical equipment included in the survey.
They estimated the cost of a particular injection at about KD 15 but the real cost is KD 85. They assumed a single pack of blood costs KD 35 but the real price is KD 60.
On the other hand, doctors claimed the cost of a particular treatment is KD 15 but the actual price is only KD 2.
They also estimated the cost of the medical equipment needed for a stomach treatment to be KD 100 but the real cost is KD 380.
According to the study, the doctors are aware of the scientific names of medicines, their components and their effect, but they are not aware of their different commercial names and the different prices.
‘Shisha’ controversy: Director General of Kuwait Municipality Engineer Ahmed Al-Manfouhi has referred the reply of his Director of Legal Affairs Raja’an Al-Ghareeb concerning Ahmad Hadian’s proposal to separate the licenses of restaurants and café shops and ban the latter from using shisha, reports AlAnba daily.
Al-Raja’an in his reply said that serving shisha in the café joints is part of individual rights that cannot be eradicated without proper law founded on reports provided by the concerned authority in the Ministry of Health. He added that issues of this nature are not part of the duties of Kuwait Municipality. He stressed “there is no legal backing for the proposed separation of the license issued for a restaurant and a café joint, in addition to confining the café joints to occupy ground floors only”.
“According to the provisions of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, the two sectors (restaurant & café shop) are allowed under the same license as they could be merged into one business as per international standards, indicating commercial businesses are allowed on multiple floors, including café joints that serve shisha”, he explained.
In another development, Al-Manfouhi responded to a proposal submitted by Deputy Head of Municipal Council Abdullah Al-Mehri to establish special passages for disabled along the coast.
He said beaches belonging to Kuwait Municipality already have passages for disabled people in Shuwaikh, Abu AlHassaniya, Fintas and Anjafah areas.