Pakistan to send doctors to Kuwait under new health agreement

Islamabad: Pakistan and Kuwait have signed a health agreement to enhance cooperation to combat coronavirus pandemic.

Pakistan will send an “increased number of doctors, nurses and paramedics” to work in Kuwait, under the agreement, special assistant to the prime minister on overseas Pakistanis, Zulfikar Bukhari, announced. “This is a big step towards bringing our two great countries closer”, he said, expressing gratitude to Kuwaiti leadership for giving Pakistani healthcare professionals the opportunity to serve humanity in a brotherly country.

The team of Pakistani health professionals is expected to include 100 doctors and 500 nurses and other health workers who would assist Kuwait’s health department deal with the pandemic.

Pact to boost Pakistan-Kuwait health cooperation

The bilateral cooperation agreement on recruitment of healthcare experts from Pakistan was signed on July 4 at the Ministry of Health of Kuwait, according to the Pakistan embassy in Kuwait. Pakistan’s Ambassador Syed Sajjad Haider on behalf of Overseas Employment Corporation (OEC) and Dr. Mustafa Redha, Undersecretary, Ministry of Health, Kuwait signed the agreement, officials said.

The agreement “would institutionalise recruitment of healthcare professionals from Pakistan for Kuwait on a regular basis as per requirements of Ministry of Health of Kuwait” according to the official statement. “It will also cement and foster bilateral cooperation in the health sector between the two countries.” The collaboration signifies strengthening bilateral relations between Pakistan and the Gulf states.

Pakistani professionals to help Kuwait combat virus

Dr. Rehab Al Watyan, director of the International Health Relations department, was quoted by Kuwait’s state news agency as saying that the agreement would enhance cooperation between the medical community of Pakistan and Kuwait and “would provide an opportunity to benefit from their experiences in dealing with disasters and epidemics, and to address the COVID-19 epidemic.”

Kuwait’s COVID-19 cases have reached 49,303 while the death toll is 365, according to official data.

Pakistanis in GCC and Kuwait

Foreigners account for nearly 70 per cent (3.3 million) of Kuwait’s 4.8 million population and Pakistanis account for one of the largest section of the exapt population. However, the number of Pakistani expats in Kuwait is lesser as compared to other Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) member states. In 2019, over half a million Pakistani workers headed to the GCC countries, of which only 126 chose to work in Kuwait.