Kuwait proposes reducing medications given to expats

Kuwait City: Kuwait’s Ministry of Health is working on presenting a plan to the Cabinet of Ministers to reduce the amount of medicines dispensed in hospitals and healthcare centres to expats, local media reported.

This comes as the Ministry of Health is preparing to submit a plan aimed at reducing spending for the upcoming fiscal year, as well as cutting spending in the current budget by 10 per cent.

A government source told the daily the Ministry of Health is also studying the possibility of reducing the number of scholarships awarded for health major students. In addition, they are considering reducing the number of patients sent abroad for treatment, limiting it only to critical cases.

Health care is heavily subsidised in Kuwait, as citizens and residents have access to governmental hospitals at extremely reduced prices. For Kuwaiti citizens, the government pays for patients to travel abroad to get treated and for surgeries.

Amid worldwide drop in oil prices and increase in government spending due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the government is working on cutting spending as Kuwait is witnessing a liquidity crunch. For the 2020-2021 fiscal year, Kuwait recorded a 10.8 billion Kuwaiti dinar deficit, the highest to date.