KUWAIT CITY: Given that the State will not be able to continue to provide free treatment services in its current form, Head of the Medicine Importers Union Faisal Al-Mejil said the state must consider setting up treatment categories so that those who are financially well-off bear part of the treatment cost, as the state cannot continue providing free treatment to all segments of society, reports Al- Rai daily. In an interview, Faisal Al- Mejil said, “A capable person must be placed in the right position to ensure the health sector is supported in every manner possible. This endlessly-free service is more dangerous for the poor than for the rich.

It is not possible to equate an individual whose annual salary is KD 600 with the one whose annual income is one million dinars when it comes to providing free services. This applies to not only health services but to all services. This stage may not end after a year or two. If we expect to reach it after 20 years, we must start thinking about it from today and put solutions, or at least set a timetable to address the problem. For 60 years, the state has provided free treatment.

Every year, the treatment system changes, as medicines become more expensive and the population increases such that the medicine budget cannot cover this, as it is not increased from time to time. In fact, the budget has already reached about KD 450 million. There must be a qualitative change so that it does not affect the type and quality of the medicines. It never happened that drug supply companies linked their debts to the Ministry of Health, as between 80 and 90 percent of the supply is regular.

However, the sign that one or two companies stop supplying until they receive their dues must be read well, not only by the Ministry of Health, but by the state in general.” He affirmed that the prices of some medicines in Kuwait are high, which is a result of the size of the market and the rate of operational costs in terms of the rate of salaries, rents and storage, adding that it harmonizes with the surrounding countries, especially the countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council.