Kuwait keen on applying quality, patients’ safety criteria: Minister
Kuwait major hub for obesity surgeries: Dr Jarallah
DOHA: Minister of Health Sheikh Basel Humoud Hamad Al-Sabah said yesterday that Kuwaiti health authorities are very keen on applying quality, patients’ safety criteria as human rights. This is a “political, professional and ethical commitment” by all the staff of the health sector, as well as state institutions, in Kuwait, the minister said in Doha where he was attending a major three-day forum on quality and safety in healthcare, and the launch ceremony of Qatar National Health Strategy (2018-2022). He added that all the Kuwaiti health utilities are committed to applying the World Health Organization (WHO)’s global initiative on patient safety quality.
Meanwhile, Sheikh Basel Al-Sabah said the sixth Middle East Forum on Quality and Safety in Healthcare offers an opportunity to exchange expertise and visions among specialists and leaderships of the health sector to discuss how to counter challenges of patients’ safety.
He pointed out that Kuwait is hard at work to achieve the third of the 17th UN 2030 Agenda Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), namely “ensuring healthy lives and promoting the well-being for all at all ages is essential to sustainable development.” Qatar’s Prime Minister and Interior Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani on Friday opened the Forum at the Qatar National Convention Centre, featuring more than 60 sessions by over 20 international and 65 locally-based presenters. The event agenda, developed in collaboration with Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) and the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI), focuses on patient-centered care, the internationally recognized concept known as ‘joy at work’, improvement science, patient safety, and leadership and capacity building. While in Doha, Sheikh Basel Al-Sabah held talks with Qatar’s Minister of Public Health Dr Hanan Al-Kuwari, and visited a host of the Qatari hospitals and medical research centers.
Obesity surgeries
In other news, former Health Minister of Kuwait Dr Mohammad Al-Jarallah said Kuwait is among nations with highest number of obesity surgeries. He made the statement on the sidelines of the first international bariatric metabolic surgery standardization meeting that was held recently in Indian capital New Delhi. “Kuwait has one of the highest rate of performance of obesity operations because of the high incidence of obesity among Kuwaitis and the availability of advanced equipment, operating theaters with active pioneers surgeons in the Middle East,” he said.
Dr Jarallah, who represented the Obesity Surgical Society in Kuwait in the first consensus conference on bariatric metabolic surgery standardization, added that Kuwaiti surgeons are major participants in global conferences on health and well-being.
The ex-health minister also commented on the meeting saying that it came as a response to the long-standing appeals from around the world to build consensus on bariatric metabolic surgery standardization. In eight consecutive sessions, extensive discussions are taking place with the active participation of specialists and experts from across the world in order to reach at a possible declaration at the end.
Dr Jarallah, the President of Kuwait Obesity Surgery Society and Gulf Obesity Surgery Society, was invited to participate in the event and to moderate a session today and share Kuwait’s experience in this regard.
Proponents and originators of various bariatric metabolic surgeries presented their views on the procedures and standards and placed their evidences. If a consensus is reached for each procedures by a simple majority vote, this will be the reference for all variations of the given procedures globally.
India’s Mohak Bariatrics which organized the event in cooperation with Robotics, said earlier that more than 100 participants and practitioners from various countries including the US, the UK, Germany, France and Arab Gulf are participating in the meeting to standardize bariatric metabolic surgery. —KUNA