Cross-eyed, pregnant expats also barred - Residents exempt, except for contagious diseases

KUWAIT: In a bid to cut expenses, achieve health security and prevent the entry of unfit people, the health ministry announced a new list of 21 diseases and ailments that will prevent newly-recruited expatriates from entering Kuwait, said informed sources.

The sources said the new list includes brittle diabetes, irregular high blood pressure, cancer, strabismus (being cross-eyed), weak eyesight, kidney failure, lameness, contagious diseases, HIV, hepatitis B and C, microfilaria, malaria, leprosy, pulmonary tuberculosis, tinnitus, fibrosis and calcification of the lungs, inflammation of the pleura, hypertrophy contractions, pregnancy (for women applying for jobs) and other conditions due to which an expat applying for a visa to enter Kuwait will be deemed unfit and rejected.

The sources justified the measure by the health ministry as an attempt to prevent overburdening the ministry budget, as expats with such conditions will cost a lot to be treated at a time when the ministry is cutting its expenses. Notably, the sources stressed that expats with valid residencies in Kuwait who are diagnosed with any of the abovementioned diseases will not be deported, except those with infectious and contagious diseases like AIDS, hepatitis B and C and tuberculosis.

By A Saleh