Healthcare in Kuwait

Healthcare in Kuwait

Health and medical education continues to grow in the country of Kuwait. There are many government and private facilities available for the people in Kuwait. The healthcare in Kuwait is considered to be very developed and updated and one of the finest in the world. (Kuwait Healthcare System )
The history of healthcare can be dated all the way back to 1912 when officials in the country developed medical services for citizens and residents within the country. Shaykh Mubarak Al Sabah the Great, helped establish a clinic with doctors from the Arabian Mission of the Dutch Reformed Church in the United States. With the help of these people a hospital for men was created followed by a smaller one for women. In 1934 the a hospital opened that held 34 beds and two years later in 1936 the Ministry of Health was established and is now one of the largest ministries in the country. Several years later the government started receiving oil revenues which helped the healthcare field grow opening more hospitals starting in 1949. The Kuwait Oil Company also decided to open some health facilities that were smaller in different parts of the country. Over the years as technology grew so did the healthcare system in the country. With all the new improvements that were made available the life-expectancy rate grew for both males and females. (Kuwait Health and Welfare )
Kuwait has the best medical services Gulf region and has continued to be at the topic for many years. The public healthcare of Kuwait can be broken down into three different groups: primary healthcare, secondary healthcare, and specialized healthcare. Primary healthcare centers can be found all over the country with about seventy total. The services offered include general practitioner services and childcare, family medicine, maternity care, diabetes patient care, dentistry, preventive medical care, nursing care and pharmaceuticals. There are about six secondary hospitals that provide a general hospital, a healthcare center and special clinics. The total bed occupancy for these hospitals are about 60%. These type of health care centers consume the largest proportion of the public health care budget. (Country Cooperation Strategy for WHO and Kuwait 2005-2009) There are also many private clinics and hospitals that can be found in Kuwait. Much of the healthcare in Kuwait could be compared to that in the United States. Kuwait has many advances in technology and medicine which help with the staffs of their hospitals. (State System Minstries ) In Kuwait there are both private and public sectors that provide health and medical care with all Kuwaitis have access to some type of health care. Kuwait has about 30,000 total health human resource workers. Of the 30,000 about 14,000 of them are physicians, nurses, and pharmacists. Most of the people working in these areas are non-Kuwait’s. Since Kuwait has such a good health system antenatal care is provided for 100% of pregnant females, trained health care at all births and 98% of infants being fully vaccinated. According to the World Health Organization in 2003 the human resources per 10,000 population were: 19 medical doctors, 2 dentists, 2.6 pharmacists, 40 nurses, and 21 hospital beds. (Country Cooperation Strategy for WHO and Kuwait 2005-2009)
Kuwait does not need to depend on help from other countries in financing its health care. In fact Kuwait often support other Islamic countries in the Region. The life expectancy in Kuwait at birth is 78.7 years 77.8 for males and 79.9 for females with the infant mortality rate being 9.4 per 1,000 live births. According to the World Health Organization in 2002 100% of the population was provided with safe drinking-water and local health care. Food is one thing that Kuwait has an abundance of and is available to the entire population. Even with enough food there is often evidence of undernourishment and even cases of anemia in young girls. Some other common health problems that the people of Kuwait face are obesity and non-communicable diseases such as heart disease, cancer, and diabetes. Communicable diseases aren’t much of a problem either because in 2003 98% of infants were immunized for Tuberculosis, Poliomyelitis, DPT, Measles, and Hepatitis. (Country Cooperation Strategy for WHO and Kuwait 2005-2009)

Even though Kuwait has one of the best health care systems in the world there are a few things that are still a concern. One concern is the increase of non-communicable diseases which continue to grow more common. Another concern is the capacity of health care provides and their buildings. With the rate of non-communicable diseases growing there will be the need for more space to treat them. Relying on non-Kuwaitis to provide health care is also a big concern. Most of the health care providers are non-Kuwaitis which makes it more difficult for the people in the country. Cost, service and managements are also things to be concerned about. (Country Cooperation Strategy for WHO and Kuwait 2005-2009)


Bibliography

Country Cooperation Strategy for WHO and Kuwait 2005-2009 . (2006 , March ). Retrieved March 24, 2009 , from World Health Organization :
http://www.who.int/countryfocus/cooperation_strategy/ccs_kwt_en.pdf
Kuwait Health and Welfare . (n.d.). Retrieved March 19, 2009 , from
http://countrystudies.us/persian-gulf-states/19-Health.htm
Kuwait Healthcare System . (n.d.). Retrieved March 19, 2009 , from Maps of World.com : http://www.mapsofworld.com/kuwait/health/healthcare-system.html
State System Minstries . (n.d.). Retrieved March 19, 2009 , from Kuwait Info :
http://www.kuwait-info.com/a_state_system/ministry_health.asp