Cairo: Around 3,000 Pakistani doctors and nurses are currently working in Kuwait and a new group is expected in the country soon, Pakistan’s Ambassador in Kuwait Malik Farooq has said. There are a total of 3,000 Pakistani medical personnel in Kuwait and the new batch of doctors, nurses and technicians will arrive in the country within weeks to work at the government health sector, the diplomat was quoted by Al Qabas as saying.
He added that the new medics, whose number was not disclosed, is recruited upon a request of the Kuwaiti Health Ministry.
The envoy made the remarks at a ceremony where he and Undersecretary of Kuwait’s Health Ministry Dr Mostafa Reda signed an extension of a health cooperation pact. Farooq said they also agreed to enhance health cooperation.
Extending the accord, he noted, marks an important step in healthcare cooperation between Pakistan and Kuwait.
The envoy explained that the extension institutionalises ongoing cooperation between the two countries by employing more Pakistani healthcare specialists on a regular basis according to the Health Ministry’s requirements.
He quoted the Kuwaiti official as hailing the “positive role” played by Pakistani medical professionals in delivering services, especially during the COVID-19 epidemic time.
In July 2020, Pakistan and Kuwait signed a framework agreement for healthcare cooperation by virtue of which several groups of Pakistani health workers were dispatched to the country to support efforts for confronting COVID-19.
At the time, media reports said Kuwait planned to bring the total number of Pakistani medical workers to 1,000 to help in the anti-epidemic fight.
