Kuwait is ready to levy a medicine fee from foreigners in Kuwait. Health Minister Dr Ahmed Al Awadi instructed the authorities to charge a 10 dinar fee for government hospitals and 5 dinar fee for primary health clinics.
Officials said the decision went into effect today. Previously, primary health clinics and hospitals provided free medicines to foreigners. Under the new directive, foreigners will have to pay a fee of 5 dinars to obtain medicines from a pharmacy in a primary health center and 10 dinars in an outpatient pharmacy in a hospital.
Currently, the fee for the consultation is 2 dinars in primary health centers and 10 dinars in hospitals. As a result, expatriates will have to pay a fee of seven dinars to visit a primary health clinic and 20 dinars to visit a hospital. The Ministry of Health announced in a press release that the decision aims to prevent the waste of medicines and improve health services.
Some specific areas have been declared exempt from the fee, but it has not been specified which ones. The new decision will create a major crisis for tens of thousands of ordinary foreigners, including Malayalis.