By Meshaal Al-Enezi

KUWAIT: Ministry of Health's (MoH) assistant undersecretary for medical services Dr Fawwaz Al-Refae announced a plan to approve new nursing staff increments with up to KD 500 in raises according to the job title, adding Minister Sheikh Dr Basel Al-Sabah had personally contacted the finance ministry in this regard pending referring it to the Civil Service Commission (CSC) soon.

Speaking yesterday on behalf of the minister on the sidelines of the International Nursing Conference 2020 in which over 1,000 nurses took part, Refae hailed Kuwaiti nurses' skills and abilities, and stressed the need to develop them to international standards. Refae stressed that the conference coincides with launching throughout 2020 the celebration of World Nursing Day declared by WHO in May 2019 in appreciation of the efforts of pioneering nurses as well as the role played by nurses in saving millions of lives worldwide.

"Choosing creativity and innovation as a motto for the International Nursing Conference 2020 reflects the organizing committee's awareness and realization of the significance of shedding more light on the latest international developments in this field, the role of nurses in scientific planning as well probing the future to utilize potential innovation and health development opportunities," Refae said, noting that MoH is keen on developing the skills of Kuwaiti nurses.

MoH nursing services manager Sana Taqaddum stressed the significance of the conference in developing nursing services and performance through discussing several scientific visions, papers and researches. Chairman of Kuwait Nursing Society Bandar Al-Enezi said nursing is constantly developing as a major sector related to health, adding that Kuwait had and would always be supportive to all forms of development thanks to its faithful people who always work on developing nursing. Enezi added that Kuwait Nursing Society constantly cooperates with MoH and the nursing department to develop nursing staff skills through training courses, postgraduate studies and other studies needed.

Agencies' closure
The Public Authority for Manpower urged all domestic helper recruitment agencies to respect law number 68/2015 in order to avoid closure. The authority explained that agencies and offices can be closed in case of violating articles 24 and 25 of the law due to:

1. Failing to check with the domestic labor department if summoned (unless a valid excuse is proven).
2. Failing to deliver workers within 24 hours.
3. Failing to receive laborers upon arrival to Kuwait or delay in doing so without due excuse.
4. Dealing with returned laborers or those recruited by others.
5. Signing contracts other than those accredited by the domestic labor department.
   
   The authority also noted that office licenses will be temporarily suspended for three months in case of committing any of violations 1, 2 or 3 mentioned above and for six months in case of committing violations 4 and 5.

Sabah Al-Salem campaign
Mubarak Al-Kabeer municipal cleaning inspection teams toured Sabah Al-Salem to inspect all streets, said team manager Khaled Al-Azmi, noting that the tour started at 8:30 am and concluded at 1:00 pm. Azmi said 247 cubic meters of waste and three abandoned vehicles were removed, in addition to replacing 55 old garbage containers with new ones.