A national supervision authority

Iwrote recently about the drainage of resources in our country, Kuwait; and how we are adopting the role of an onlooker without making any moves. The health ministry collects KD 50 as a health insurance fee from each expatriate living in Kuwait, in addition to KD 1 and KD 2 as entrance fees at polyclinics and hospitals respectively. But on the other hand, there is no true monitoring to prevent dispensing of medications which are sometimes given through wasta (connections) or a friend’s recommendation. I saw with my own eyes, while on my way to fill a prescription for a relative of mine in a Hawally hospital, an expat filling large bags with medicine that is worth thousands of dinars. Isn’t this considered a form of draining of the state budget? Some people might suggest that medications such as Panadol, cough medicine, antibiotics and Ventolin might not have considerable value, but if you go to a private pharmacy and ask about the true value of those medications, you will be surprised by the answer.

The health ministry made a positive step a few days ago, as published in a newspaper, although I am not sure how accurate this news is, about raising the price of some medicine, which I believe is something good. In my opinion, I believe that expats should enter medical facilities and be examined free of charge, but medications should be paid for. The current situation is difficult to continue. Why? Because that would cost the country tremendous amounts of money.

As I mentioned in previous articles, there are some expats who are trusted over government properties including facilities, warehouses, ministries, schools, authorities, clubs, and others. In order to remove any doubts, why not install CCTV cameras in those places to uncover violations if they exist?

Also, why not place both large and small pharmacies under surveillance? Moreover, the government can establish a supervision authority that provides more jobs to national manpower. Such authority would employ an undersecretary, assistant undersecretary, supervisor, manager and employees whose only job is to discover violations. A similar model has already been used in co-operative societies where offices were allocated for the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor employees to check violations. May Allah protect Kuwait and its people from all evil.