New cardiac catheterization ward opened in Mubarak Hospital

KUWAIT: Minister of Health Sheikh Dr Basel Al-Sabah tours the new cardiac catheterization ward at Mubarak Al-Kabeer Hospital. — KUNA

KUWAIT: The opening of the first phase of Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmad Hospital will be beginning of October, said Minister of Health Sheikh Dr Basel Al-Sabah yesterday. The first phase of Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmad Hospital includes outpatient clinics, medical, surgical and pediatric wards, radiology, laboratories, operation theaters and emergency. Sheikh Basel was speaking on sidelines of the inauguration of the inauguration of the Cardiac Catheterization ward at Mubarak Al-Kabeer Hospital. He said the launch of new health project would make a quantum leap in health service and patient care. The minister said the opening of the Amiri hospital extension will be in October as well as the emergency hospital in Sabah Al-Ahmad Area.

Three wards

The new ward at Mubarak Al-Kabeer Hospital consists of three operation and catheterization wards, including a room for conducting surgeries, another one for cardiovascular physiology and a third for cardiac catheterization, the minister said. The percentage of urgent cardiac catheterization cases reached 60 percent in 2016, compared to only seven percent back in 2012, he added. This ward will contribute to alleviating burden on Chest Diseases Hospital (CDH) currently, as further cardiac catheterization rooms will be launched at Al-Farwaneya Hospital in the near future, the Minister said.

Head of Cardiology Division at Mubarak Al-Kabeer Hospital Dr Mohammad Zubaid said in press remarks that the Hospital received around 850 patients of heart strokes on an annual basis, and later they were distributed to the three cardiac centers in various parts of the country to follow up with their treatment and conduct cardiac catheterization operation. The age rate of heart stroke patients in the country reached 48 -- 10 years younger from similar cases in the United States and Europe.

The rate of waiting timing to patients to meet cardiac physicians is not relatively long, as it reached below one week in some hospitals. He indicates at rise in the cardiac patients in Kuwait and the Gulf region lately. The opening of the new cardiac catheterization ward in Mubarak Al-Kabeer Hospital coincides with the preparations of the United Nations General Assembly staging of the third High-level Meeting on the prevention and control of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) to be held on September 27 in New York City, US, he said. It also coincides with the World Heart Day, which comes on September 29, he added.

GCC meeting

In other news, a working group meeting charged with preparing a draft plan for health ministers in GCC countries aims to promote joint health work and enhance cooperation in all medical fields, Kuwait's Health Ministry said. The group will complete the draft plan before being submitted to the health ministers in their fourth meeting to be held in Kuwait next October, Assistant Undersecretary for Dental Affairs Dr Yousef Al-Duwairi said at the meeting yesterday.

The plan also aims to implement decisions approved by GCC leaders and ministers, Duwairi said. The draft plan also includes the development of policies, unify health regulations in the GCC states and achieves health care equality among GCC citizens. It also includes professional development, exchange of expertise and unifying crises management systems, he added. The working group took into consideration that the draft plan to be consistent with the high objectives of the GCC, indicating that the plan is a roadmap for the health ministerial committee over the next five years. - KUNA