The World Health Organisation (WHO) commended on Thursday the Kuwaiti government’s COVID-19 vaccination arrangements as operating under the “highest safety standards.” “I am genuinely impressed with the efficient organisation of the vaccination centers and commitment of the staff,” WHO representative in Kuwait Dr Assad Hafeez said during a visit to two such facilities, accompanied by another two regional WHO officials. “I am thankful for their help in vaccination while applying the highest level of professionalism to ensure the safety and efficacy of vaccines,” added Dr Hafeez in a statement by WHO.

The WHO representative’s visits extended to the Kuwait International Fair centre in Mishref, which has been offering free vaccinations to nationals and expatriates alike since December 2020, alongside the Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah Causeway drive-in center, introduced in May, this year. Both makeshift centres have the capacity to innoculate a combined number of over 30,000 people a day, operating under government COVID-19 regulations, approved by WHO. WHO went on to describe the centres as being “comparable to any other such facility around the globe,” pointing out the leadership of Health Minister Dr. Bassel Al-Sabah on the matter.

The Ministry of Health organized the first workshop of the Permanent Office of the World Health Organization in Kuwait, in the presence of the Director of the Department of International Health Relations, Dr Rehab Al-Watian, the Permanent Representative of the World Health Organization for the Eastern Mediterranean Region in Kuwait, Asaad Hafeez, the epidemiologist at the WHO Regional Office, Dr Amjad Al-Khouli, and the WHO’s liaison officers in the country.

Dr Al-Watian said in a press statement on the sidelines of the meeting that this workshop is the first after the official opening of the office of the permanent representative of the World Health Organization in Kuwait last week in the presence of the Minister of Health Sheikh Dr Basil Al-Sabah. She pointed out the primarily purpose of the workshop is introductory, as the WHO permanent representative in Kuwait, Dr Hafeez liaises with the liaison officers in the Ministry of Health, and they are the point of contact between the Kuwaiti Ministry of Health and the WHO, as they are responsible for submitting the reports, information and numbers required from the Ministry to the World Health Organization. She explained the Ministry of Health includes many sectors, and each sector has a number of liaison officers who work in a joint program between the Kuwaiti Ministry of Health and the World Health Organization, and these programs are vital and organized and require interaction and permanent responses.

Dr Al-Watian confirmed the depth and strength of the relations between the Ministry of Health and the World Health Organization, and this relationship was crowned by the inauguration of the permanent office, noting that Kuwait is an official member of the organization since 1960, and that it is ranked 19th among 22 countries in the eastern Mediterranean, and that the presence of an office of the organization in the country will document the relationship and will increase communication and continuous follow-up and will undoubtedly give clear results and shed light on Kuwait’s efforts.

In turn, Dr Hafeez said: “We are in the process of introducing the liaison officers in the Kuwaiti Ministry of Health to the organization’s programs in full coordination with the ministry in all its departments in various disciplines.” He explained that there is a set of very precise rules on the basis of which work is being done for coordination and cooperation between the organization and the ministry to enhance joint cooperation to reach more positive results. He pointed out that in the interest of the World Health Organization to consolidate cooperation and support, qualify and prepare the health system in Kuwait calling the relationship with the “organization” deep and extends for decades, pointing out that the initial basics in the areas of cooperation and technical support by the World Health Organization and how to receive programs will be discussed.

SOURCE  ARABTIMES

KUWAIT: His Highness the Amir Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah yesterday headed to Germany on a private visit. His Highness the Amir was seen off by His Highness the Deputy Amir and Crown Prince Sheikh Mishal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, His Highness Sheikh Nasser Al-Mohammad Al-Sabah, His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled Al-Sabah and other senior state officials. – KUNA

The death toll in Nigeria from a cholera outbreak has risen to 296 with seven more people losing their battle against the disease, a health official said Thursday. 

Another 91 people were diagnosed with the disease in the capital Abuja, said Dr. Mohammed Kawu, the Acting Secretary of the Health and Human Services Secretariat.

Kawu said emergency shipments of medicine and medical supplies were being carried out to areas where the disease was detected.

In Nigeria, nearly 11,000 people have been diagnosed with cholera since January this year.

Failure to meet the need for clean water in the country and the inability to carry out prompt and effective medical intervention increases the risks of the epidemic and death.

Epidemics such as malaria, polio, typhoid and monkey smallpox are common in the country.

Cholera is a water-borne life-threatening disease. An estimated 1.4 billion people are at risk for cholera globally, with 2.8 million cases and 91,000 related deaths occurring annually.

Developing countries are disproportionately affected because of their lack of resources, infrastructure and disaster preparedness systems.

In Nigeria, cholera is an endemic and seasonal disease, occurring annually mostly during the rainy season and more often in areas with poor sanitation.​​​​​​​/aa

Gunmen abducted at least 33 people, including a pregnant woman and children, during a nighttime raid in Nigeria’s northwestern Kaduna state.  

Sabiu Suleiman, the traditional ruler of Kachia, a town in Kaduna, said Thursday that the men raided some homes and a bakery, shot dead three people and kidnapped 33 others on Wednesday night. 

"The bandits broke into some houses. Twenty seven people were abducted from a junction in Kachia and five others as the bandits raided a bakery," Sulieman told a delegation of government officials and heads of security during their visit to the town. 

He said the gunmen started shooting as soon as they arrived in the town. He appealed to the security agencies to ensure the release of the abducted residents. 

Police also confirmed the incident Thursday but could not give details on the victims of the attack. 

Kaduna State Commissioner for Internal Security and Home Affairs Samuel Aruwa told journalists the security agencies in the state were on the trail of the abductors. He said the government would protect the citizens. 

The kidnapping of the 33 residents was one of a series of abductions by gunmen in Nigeria’s northwest region. ​​​​​​​ 

On April 20, gunmen raided a university in Kaduna state, killed one person and abducted dozens of students. Five of the students were killed days after the incident. The surviving students were released last week.