The new data issued by the concerned authority about the overseas treatment necessitates a review of treatment abroad file in light of its expenses marred by weak oversight and waste of public money The bill for overseas treatment of citizens has risen by 26,823 percent over 25 years and informed health sources said according to the.
The sources told the daily that “there is accumulation of documents and bills for treatment abroad for the past several financial years, without the Ministry of Health and other agencies being able to settle them, according to the reports of the Audit Bureau, due to the transfer of financial payments to health offices abroad saying there is no consistency with the available budget and as a result these bills remain unsettled, which cast a doubt on the expenses during each fiscal year.
The sources noted the efforts made during the past four years to reduce overseas treatment cases and tighten control over expenses, indicated that the expenses of health offices abroad are still not settled in a timely manner, and the balance of the account of foreign traded assets (cash payments and credits abroad) has ballooned and jumped from 4.2 million dinars in 1995 to 1,080,834,121 dinars at the end of the fiscal year 2016-2017 and 1,127,851,937 dinars at the end of the fiscal 2020-2021.
The sources indicated that the time has come to stop the waste of money on treatment abroad and legalize it, with the continued efforts of the state to improve health services and in light of new data, which prove the great capabilities of the health system in the country, and among the most prominent of these data is the upgrading of levels of health service, successfully performing complex major surgeries in the country, including heart and liver transplantation, increasing bed capacity in the Ministry’s hospitals with the opening of major projects, such as Jaber Hospital, Jahra Medical City and the new Amiri Hospital, in addition to the cumulative experience of medical staff, rehabilitation and distinguished performance, with the testimony of organizations and tangible success of the health system in dealing with a crisis the size of the “Corona” pandemic.
The sources concluded saying for treatment abroad, at the very least, be legalized in all departments, not just in the Ministry of Health, with a plan that includes a specific period of time to completely dispense with it, and stop what it called the “tap of political benefit” at the expense of public money by activating the automatic link between the health offices, the treatment abroad administration, and the government financial systems (GFMIS) to stop all aspects of waste.
For this the following ten steps are necessary:
— Improving health service levels and successfully performing complex major surgeries such as heart and liver transplants inside the country.
— Increasing bed capacity in hospitals and opening major projects such as Jaber Hospital, Al-Jahra Medical City, the new Amiri Hospital and the new Farwaniya.
— The cumulative experience of medical staff, qualification and distinguished performance for them with the testimony of international organizations, and the tangible success of the health system in dealing with a crisis the size of the ‘Corona’ pandemic.
— The health services provided for patients are not affected according to the decision of the Ministry of Health to stop treatment such as during some periods like dealing with the pandemic.
— Existence of accurate medical specializations and the expansion of scholarship programs to obtain postgraduate studies.
— The imminent opening and operation of new health projects with great capabilities and state-of-the-art equipment.
— The Ministry’s application of the visiting doctors program, through which a group of distinguished medical cadres are recruited.
— Expansion of the facilities of the private health sector, upgrading the level of its services and the introduction of many delicate specializations.
— Gradually rationalizing treatment and limiting them to 4 cases, with high chances of reducing the number of patients, especially with the near completion of the Kuwait Cancer Center to provide a large part of the treatment locally.
— Stop exaggerating the prices of health services abroad some of which have reached astronomical figures compared to the cost of the service locally, such as the cost of organ transplants abroad.