Kuwait Health Initiative

Our New Home

nadeem — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 00:10:07 +0000

The Kuwait Health Initiative team is proud to announce the opening of its new online home at www.q8health.org. Since the KHI strongly relies on feedback from its readers to improve its services, please visit the site and send us your comments and suggestions. This WordPress site will continue to function and be intermittently updated by our [...]

Primary Health Care – Overcoming Inequities

nadeem — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 14:14:16 +0000

Yesterday, the World Health Organization issued its annual World Health Report which, on the 30th anniversary of the Alma-Ata Declaration, once again renews its vows to the critical issue of primary health care. Indeed, after decades of sailing adrift and billions spent on seemingly promising vertical programs, the foundations of health systems have slowly but surely dismantled or witnessed [...]

Health For All Revisited – Part 1

nadeem — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 20:47:05 +0000

A right approach to health sector reform In a disorganized and exceedingly bureaucratic health system, it is tempting for the ill-informed policymaker to engage in the “band-aid” approach to achieve quick fixes that appease both the public and legislators in times of crisis. We have discussed numerous examples of this in the past. Furthermore, providers, who have [...]

Losing Perspective

bibi — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 21:41:07 +0000

Kuwait and the neighboring GCC countries have unique social structures. Despite high growth rates, there seems to be an unrelenting need to import skilled manpower and foreign expertise. Expatriates constitute about 80% of the labor force and form an estimated 65% of the population. This tells you that the majority of expatriates are in the working age [...]

86 Restaurants in 16 km

nadeem — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 15:20:05 +0000

by Astrid Al-Hadeedi | Lecturer | American University of Kuwait The World Health Organization lists Kuwait as the 8th fattest country in the world with a 74.2% prevalence of overweight individuals, behind Nauru (94.5%), Federated States of Micronesia (91.1%), Cook Islands (90.9%), Tonga (90.8%), Niue (81.7%), Samoa (80.4%) and Palau (78.4%). This small group of Pacific [...]

BIOpsy: Educational opportunities @ Cyprus International Institute

nadeem — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 01:59:44 +0000

The Cyprus International Institute for the Environment and Public Health, in association with the Harvard School of Public Health, is announcing the following educational programs and scholarships: “We have a world class 1 year Masters Program in Environmental Health which is taught by faculty from Harvard and other prestigious scholars from around the globe. We are [...]

Vain Souls with White Wings

Raed — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 07:30:11 +0000

Shall we go to bed… Doctor? Prejudice subdued, different ethnic groups have managed to manifest certain socio-behavioral traits, some of which are good, and other ones not particularly flattering. And although every unique individual harbors within his soul the opposite of all characters and traits, some of those traits may manage to surface as a general [...]

Tunnel vision

bibi — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 01:52:08 +0000

In 2001, a Pakistani woman was publicly gang-raped and later forced to walk the streets of her village unclothed, exposed to the rest of the villagers. This atrocity was perpetrated by individuals who claim to be faithful Muslims and who begin their sermons with the mention of God and the prophet Mohammad, PBUH. The first [...]

Priority Check

nadeem — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 10:03:22 +0000

Budget allocated to the improvement of Kuwait’s health services (2007): USD 181 million (KWD 51 million) Kuwait’s contribution to the Katrina disaster: USD 500 million (KWD 141 million) Go figure.

The Health of Kuwait – Awake Yet?

nadeem — Fri, 13 Jul 2007 16:04:57 +0000

Certain generalizations can be made from the analysis of our system. There seems to be a trend towards an ultraconservative approach to decision-making. Risk taking is discouraged and our policy-makers have adopted the “band-aid” technique to solve conflicts whereby essential rights are consistently being withdrawn when complaints are filed by both laypeople and uninformed politicians instead [...]