Share60% of schoolchildren suffer from spinal problems
KUWAIT: Minister Of Social Affairs and Labor and Minister of State for Development and Planning Hind Al-Subaih stressed the importance of cooperation between the three development partners - the private sector, the public sector and NGOs - to achieve development and build projects that would help serve citizens. Speaking on inspecting the new blood bank project in Adan that is being funded by cooperative societies' shareholders profits, Subaih stressed that the new blood bank would be the second one after over 50 years since the first blood bank in Jabriya opened. She added that 406,000 shareholders from 63 co-ops participated in funding the project. "This is reminiscent of 1911 when all Kuwaitis participated in building Mubarakiya School," she underlined, noting that the project's total cost is KD 6,982,000 that construction had started in Dec 2015.She said it would be handed over to MoH in Oct 2017.
New hospital
Kuwait Oil Company (KOC) has announced that the new Ahmadi Hospital will officially open in February and will provide highly-developed medical services, including developmental and intervention radiology. KOC added that patients would not have to wait long to see doctors and patients already hospitalized in the old hospital would be moved into the new one using special ambulances. KOC explained that the old hospital building would be kept intact as a historical building and that some of its departments would still be operational to provide full clinical services to geriatric patients and those in coma.
Spinal problems
Physiotherapist at the Chest Diseases Hospital Dr Hanan Humoud said 50-60 percent of schoolchildren in GCC states suffer from spinal problems because of their schoolbags. Speaking at an event organized by the hospital's health awareness committee at Ibn Rushd primary school in Faiha under the title 'Schoolbag', Humoud stressed that a schoolbag should not be heavier than 10-15 percent of the child's total weight, its height should be in accordance to that of the child and that it should have a waist strap to protect the back. Humoud also advised schoolchildren to stick to their daily timetables to avoid overloading the bag with books. She also advised them to put heavier books close to the back of the bag. In addition, Humoud said trolley bags' handles should be adjusted to avoid forcing a kid to bend and drag a heavy bag. Humoud then taught the kids a few exercises to strengthen their back muscles to avoid spinal problems.
Anticorruption
Head of the Anticorruption Authority Chancellor Abdul Rahman Namash Al-Namash said Kuwait is the only regional country in which the anticorruption authority demands financial disclosures from senior officials and employees. Speaking at a press conference held on the occasion of publicizing executive charter number 300/2016, Namash said lawmakers are obliged to file their financial disclosures within 60 days of winning parliamentary membership and that any delay would subject them to legal actions. Namash also said that the law allows prosecuting officials' wives and children for illicit gains resulting from crimes committed by these officials. Namash added that officials appointed before the issuance of the charter will have to file in their financial disclosures within six months.
By Meshaal Al-Enezi and A Saleh
