Screening of Returning Expats in Airports, Proposed

A proposal drafted by MP Mohammad Al-Dalal which requests for the allocation of a nearby building or an area inside the Kuwait International Airport (KIA) to be used for conducting medical examinations for domestic helpers or other expats who are entering the country and those who have travelled and are returning for their jobs, has been submitted to panel for review.

Al-Dalal emphasized that all foreign workers or expats should undergo medical assessments not only when they’re about to renew their visas, but also in the above specified circumstances, in order to protect families and the general population as some of them might be suffering from communicable diseases, according to  report by Arab Times.

Medical Screening in Airports of Returning Expats, Suggested

Anyone who is found to be ill or unwell needs to be given medical treatment, vaccinated, or deported (as needed) depending on the person’s illness or medical condition. Al-Dalal also warned against delaying medical testing until the person’s visa has been renewed as this might pose more danger to the population for the convenience of few.

In other related news, MP Thamer Al-Suwaet has requested the Minister of Health, Sheikh Dr. Bassel Al-Sabah Al-Sabah to shed light on reports circulating on social media and newspapers regarding the alleged connection of cancer and nervous system diseases to the depleted uranium used back in the Liberation War, in consideration of the rise in the rates of cancer cases over the past few years.

In line with this issue, Al-Suwaet would like to know if there is an agency or government sector that is in charge of documenting cancer cases and associated disease statistics across all Kuwaiti hospitals during the last ten years. The lawmaker also inquired if there is a national department tasked to regulate and monitor this agency, while asking for annual records regarding the matter. Al-Suwaet also requested for data regarding cancer patients including age and sex, as well as for cases of multiple sclerosis (MS) and Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (AMLS) from all Kuwait medical institutions such as Ibn Sina Hospital in  the last ten years.

The lawmaker would like to find out if the current cases of the above-mentioned diseases in the country are within average international rates.

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