Kuwait is to hire about 2,000 expatriate medical personnel for new hospitals and clinics, the daily newspaper Kuwait Times said on Wednesday.

The Ministry of Health of Kuwait has prepared a memo on its needs of doctors and technical medical staff who should be hired to operate new hospitals and clinics, the newspaper quoted an informed source as saying, noting that the memo has been sent to the Kuwaiti Civil Service Commission (CSC) for approval.

The memo showed that MoH needs more than 500 doctors and over 1,500 nurses, radiology technicians and other support medical staff members from India, Philippines and other Asian countries.

The ministry has started laying off expats working in administrative positions to replace them with citizens, leaving only a few expats in such positions until they become 100 per cent Kuwaitised within two years, the source said.

The ministry had informed CSC that it would take at least 10 years for Kuwaiti graduates to meet the need of medical and nursing staff.

NAN reports that in 2017, the association’s Director General Dr Mohammad Al-Qinae said the number of Kuwaiti doctors is below the needs of the local market, as Kuwait is heading towards new development projects that need an increase in doctors.

He said that the study showed 90 per cent of doctors deserve a “rare specialty” status, which will in turn attract Kuwaitis to such specialties.

He said the study warned against the exodus of Kuwaiti and foreign doctors, which will lead to severe shortages and will disrupt work in health projects.

Qinae said the study said competent and experienced doctors must be brought in, besides increasing the number of Kuwaiti doctors on medicine scholarships to meet local market needs, especially since the percentage of Kuwaiti doctors is expected to drop from 30 per cent to 17 per cent during the next five years. (Xinhua/NAN)