The Acting Deputy Director of Kuwait University for the Medical Sciences Center is taking steps to merge the College of Public Health with the College of Allied Medical Sciences.
This happens at a time when there is need for more medical personnel. The merger step is met with objection from the professors of the College of Public Health and its affiliates, who demanded that measures aimed at “destroying the college” must be stopped calling it an ill-considered recommendation.
Academic sources told a local Arabic daily that the objection stems from the importance of having such a specialized college in the country, especially since its majors are considered the very nerve for public health like studying epidemics, unhealthy diet, and chronic diseases such as heart, diabetes, cancer, and others.
The sources pointed out that the college, which placed Kuwait University among the Gulf universities in the region, was established in 2013, when the university administration realized at the time the importance of having such a college within the Medical Sciences Center group, to become a college specialized in graduating undergraduate and Master’s students comprising 5 scientific departments specialized in public health in the community — Departments of Environmental and Occupational Health, Epidemiology and Vital Statistics, Department of Health Policy and Administration, Department of Public Health Practice and Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences — which constitute an important element in supplying the local labor market, with graduates specialized in these important fields in the health and medical sector.
The sources indicated that the college includes specialist professors from the best universities with lots of experience and efficiency, are producing capable cadres in the health sector which is expected to be expanded over the coming years with more cadres.
The sources indicated the importance of the college, by saying that the Ministry of Health, had organized a press conference to announce the establishment of the college in 2016, stressing the importance of having a college of public health in the country, considering that its establishment reflects the broad awareness of the main role that public health plays in protecting the health of individuals, communities and work to immunize it in the belief the college will have an active role in promoting community health by combating diseases, creating health awareness, eradicating health illiteracy and encouraging healthy lifestyles of individuals in the community.
The sources stressed that the college’s performance should not be measured by the numbers of students it graduates only, as it is a newly established college, but its role should be measured by the quality of health contributions in various fields, such as the scientific research it is doing, especially research that leads to a better understanding of our health problems and changing health policies. for the better.
Among the benefits of the College of Public Health include:
1- Rehabilitation of specialized health cadres
2- An active role in promoting community health
3- Contribute to the fight against diseases and create health awareness
4- Encouraging healthy lifestyles among community members
5- Graduation of postgraduate students specializing in health fields
6- An increasing role after the Corona pandemic to confront epidemics
7- Contribute to the face of high temperature and environmental pollution
Faculty members and the supporting academic staff said, “We are surprised at the attempt to blow up the College of Public Health despite the need for it in light of epidemics.
A group of faculty members and the academic support staff at the College of Public Health denounced the step taken by the university administration and the management of the Medical Sciences Center at Kuwait University to do away with the College of Public Health with its five scientific departments, and represent it in a single department in a college that has nothing to do with the College of Allied Medical Sciences.
The professors said in a statement, “It is sad and strange that this reactionary step came after the leadership of Kuwait and Kuwait University at the time were the first in the Gulf to establish this college in 2013, which is one of the first public health colleges in the region, and the strangest thing is that this happened in the wake of the Corona pandemic, which coincided with epidemics spreading in our Kuwaiti society due to poor diet and a sedentary lifestyle, such as obesity, diabetes, cancer and heart diseases — which are the main causes of death in Kuwait — in addition to environmental pollution, desertification and climate change in Kuwait in particular and the world in general, and what accompanies this includes diseases of the respiratory system, lung, heart, cancer and mental disorders.
The signatories to the statement called on the university administration to freeze all measures and decisions to be taken regarding the demolition of the College of Public Health or its inclusion in the College of Allied Medical Sciences, according to an ill-studied recommendation.
The signatories to the statement include:
► Dr. Dana Al-Tarah
► Dr. Saleh Al Sarhan
► Dr. Hala Al-Issa
► Dr. Iman Al-Awadi
► Dr. Manar Al-Awadi
► Dr. Farah Behbehani
► Mohammed Al-Marri
► Noor Bin Haider
► Maryam Al Hamad
► Bodour Mullah Youssef
► Jinan Al-Matrouk
► Abdullah Safar
► The power of the immortal
► High Saqr
► Dheer Al-Dawish
► Meryem Bouqmaz
► Hammoud Al-Jalahma
► Abrar Ahmed Hussein