Health Minister Dr Ali Al-Obaidi

KUWAIT: Health Minister Dr Ali Al-Obaidi has endorsed new regulations for treatment abroad, stipulating in part that applications for treating a patient outside the country must be via the hospital and not through the department in charge treatment abroad.

The Ministry of Health (MoH) said in a statement yesterday that the new regulations stipulated that resolutions taken by the specialized committees tasked with approving the treatment outside Kuwait are not final, and that they must be forwarded to the supreme commission for final approval.

In case an application is turned down by the special panel, the concerned patient is entitled to lodge a complaint with the supreme commission, only once. He (or she) can re-present the application to a special panel at the hospital three months after the supreme commission's decision to abstain from blessing it.

Validity for the treatment abroad spans for two months after approval by the undersecretary. It can be extended by a month, only. In case the patient has failed to travel as scheduled, he (or she) can renew the application. The new rules also say that natural therapy is restricted to private medical centers in Kuwait, except for the cases that require physical rehabilitation or implantation. The MoH will not compensate patients who have undergone treatment at their personal expense. However, it will examine the emergency or accidents' cases involving citizens abroad.

The ministry has recently established a special panel to re-examine the regulations governing citizens' treatment abroad, in line with the Cabinet Resolution 152/2012, as well as complementary resolutions. It is also tasked of enacting regulations for treatment in the private sector in Kuwait. - KUNA