KUWAIT: Kuwait's Civil Service Commission (CSC) has authorized a new health agency that would specialize in administrative affairs, including medical treatment abroad , pharmaceutical surveillance and licenses for new private clinics and hospitals.

The new health agency, which has been approved in compliance with a request by the Ministry of Health, will be affiliated to the minister of health, CSC Chairman Abdelaziz Al-Zaben said, following a CSC meeting. The meeting was presided over by Deputy Prime Minister, Foreign Minister and CSC's Acting Chairman Sheikh Dr. Mohammad Al-Sabah, and attended by several Cabinet ministers.

The agency is chiefly intended to divide management and health control into two separate bodies; one specializes in preventive and curative services, while the second specializes in administrative and technical affairs, he said.

The new agency would contribute to reducing the burden on the Ministry of Health, and will even allow health officials to be able to further revamp health services in the country," the official added. The CSC has also consented to the ministry's requests bearing on doctors' promotion and retirement age extensions from 65 to 70, Al-Zaben said.

Furthermore, the commission has agreed to requests by some State agencies, including Kuwait News Agency (KUNA), Kuwait Ports Authority, General Secretariat of Awqaf, General Secretariat of Private Universities, General Directorate of Civil Aviation, Zakat House, Public Authority for Youth and Sports, and other establishments, for amending their regulatory structures, Al-Zeben noted.
The official pointed out the CSC will reconvene later to discuss the World Bank report containing a survey of pays and salaries in Kuwait. ---Kuwait Times