Participants attend the first regional conference for the Arab states on healthcare in detention in Hawalli Governorate, Kuwait, Dec.3, 2019. Kuwait launched on Tuesday the first regional conference for the Arab states on healthcare in detention with an aim to improve health service for detainees. The three-day conference, themed "Detainees' health is our health," was held in collaboration with Kuwait's Ministry of Interior and Ministry of Health. (Photo by Asad/Xinhua)
KUWAIT CITY, Dec. 3 (Xinhua) -- Kuwait launched on Tuesday the first regional conference for the Arab states on healthcare in detention with an aim to improve health service for detainees.
The three-day conference, themed "Detainees' health is our health," was held in collaboration with Kuwait's Ministry of Interior and Ministry of Health.
At the opening speech, Farraj Al-Zuabi, assistant undersecretary for Correctional Institutions and Law Enforcement Institutions at the Kuwait's Ministry of Interior, said that the conference comes to get acquainted with the experience of Kuwait in the field of health care for detainees, which is a role model in the comprehensive and diverse care.
Kuwait will provide full health care, said Fatima Al-Najjar, assistant undersecretary for National Medical Services at the Kuwait's Ministry of Health, stressing the support of comprehensive health cooperation between institutions.
She revealed that a new hospital with a capacity of up to 128 beds in the Central Prison is currently being planned and its establishment is under a period in which Kuwait will witness a paradigm shift in the health sector.
Dorothea Krimitsas, deputy head of ICRC (the International Committee of the Red Cross) Regional Delegation for the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, praised Kuwait's choice to host the conference, noting that it comes as a role model in the field of health care provided to detainees and prisoners in correctional institutions.
"ICRC goes all over the world to ensure the proper treatment for prisons," she said, adding that "part of our work is to collaborate with detainees and healthcare centers to improve their health conditions."
