Kuwait stresses importance of early diagnosis
ISLAMABAD: Kuwait stressed yesterday the importance of developing awareness on the environmental causes of some cancers, and strategic interventions within national action plans to address the harmful effects on health. Early diagnosis of cancer through community health surveys is so essential to improving survival, Dr Rihab Al-Wutinyan, Director of the Primary Health Care Department, said.
Al-Wutinyan made her remarks while addressing the 64th session of the World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Committee for the Eastern Mediterranean in Islamabad. Kuwait has successfully implemented national health screening programs for the early diagnosis of cancer, the member of the Kuwaiti delegation at the session, noted. Some of these programs are the National Program for Early Diagnosis of Colorectal Cancer, and the early diagnosis program for breast cancer among women, she added. The primary health care system can become the starting point for implementing national strategies and action plans for prevention, early diagnosis of cancer and addressing related risk factors, she said.
The delegate also highlighted her country’s commitment to prevent and treat chronic diseases since the issuance of the United Nations Political Declaration in September 2011. Kuwait has followed a multi-pronged procedure, including the confirmation of high-level commitment through the formation of a Higher Committee for Prevention and the response to chronic diseases, she added.
Wutinyan informed the attendees that the committee, formed under the supervision of Kuwaiti health minister, includes leading members and specialists from inside and outside the ministry. It also includes civil society and public benefit associations with a health relation, she added.
The health ministry has also updated the protocols and policies of the work at the level of primary health care and Hospitals and palliative care, she endorsed.
Healthcare
The World Health Organization (WHO) yesterday agreed on the proposal by Kuwaiti delegation, led by Minister of Health Dr Jamal Al-Harbi, to discuss the framework to promote healthcare and face effects of climate change. The proposal was presented by a member of the Kuwaiti delegation, Dr Ahmad Al-Shatti during 64th session of the WHO Regional Committee for the Eastern Mediterranean here in Islamabad.
The Kuwaiti delegate proposed meeting between the ministers of health and ministers of environment next year, which was adopted on the spot. He also called for benefiting from the initiative of health cities to engage the public in health responsibility, through dealing with the social and environmental determinants. The registration of 9 healthy cities in Kuwait gave impetus to the activity and the community commitment to health, said Shatti.
Shatti expressed his pride to ensure that the curricula of the Faculty of Medicine and the Public Health College in Kuwait addressing vital issues such as climate change, air pollution, and health. He noted that the educational and training center is one of the main axes of facing the challenges and it is time to invite universities, research centers and researchers to develop public health curricula, adding that providing these opportunities for wider areas would address the challenges of environmental pollution, air pollution and climate change.
Kuwait also distributed the study of the health effects of industrial pollutants to the delegations participating in the meeting as an applied experience of the proposed Framework for Climate Change and Vulnerability (20172021). He welcomed the sharing of accumulated technical experience with the countries of the region. The regional Director of WHO, Dr Mahmoud Fikri prepared the meeting in the first quarter of 2018 and addressed the countries in attendance to name two health and environmental experts to start preparatory meetings for the conference. He confirmed that Kuwait has been able to mix the environmental indicators and indicators of vital health of the Ministry of Health including birth register and categories, the patterns of medical records, the reasons and rates of entry and exit of hospitals, emergency records, and cancer records. He expressed Kuwait’s support for the proposal and thanked the WHO and Environmental Health Center for their outstanding efforts in the field. Dr Harbi accompanied by other senior officials from Kuwaiti Ministry of Health are among the high level representatives from 22 countries in WHO’s eastern Mediterranean region attending the four-day event.