Category: Medical

The Health Ministry said on Thursday that its annual campaign to spread awareness on chronic conditions began as part of its sustainable development program to combat disease and illness.

Speaking to the press, Director of Health Performance Department at the Ministry Dr. Abeer Al-Baho revealed that chronic conditions were on the rise, pointing out that bad habits such as smoking was on the increase with 42.6 percent of males and 2.9 percent for females.

Physical inactivity was up to 39 percent and obesity up 34.7 percent amongst adults over 19 years old, she added.

On obesity in particular, she added that extreme obesity was prevalent among teenagers and adults around the world due to bad eating habits, lack of exercise, and other causes, saying that obesity might strike children in families in a percentage of around 25 to 30.

The solution, Dr. Al-Baho said, would be through seeking better habits and professional medical help in chronic cases, stressing that the main cause of chronic diseases could be a
void with smart choices and better health management.

Source: Kuwait News Agency

The Kuwaiti Ministry of Health has signed 145 contracts worth KD 107 million (around USD 350 million) as part of ongoing endeavors to launch new hospitals and clincs in a bid to promote the country’s medicine security.

The Ministry’s Assistant Undersecretary for Medicine and Medical Preparations Khaled Al-Yaseen said in a press statement that the ministry had concluded 106 medicine contracts, 30 medical supply contracts and nine lab equipment contracts.

The move came after all required legal and regulatory approvals were obtained, the official underlined, terming the process as part of the ministry’s strategy to boost the country’s strategic medicine and lab stock and to provide high-quality and efficient health services.

He stressed the ministry’s commitment to achieving medicine self-sufficiency and offering the best medical solutions to the Kuwaiti society in line with relevant international standards.

Source: Kuwait News Agency

ALGIERS, Deputy Director of the National Public Health Institute of Ivory Coast Dr. Daouda Koulibaly said that 28 infections with Mpox (monkeypox) had been confirmed across the country until yesterday, including one fatality.

The first infection case was detected in the southern town of Tabou in early July and then the epidemic reached Abidjan and other parts of the country, Dr. Koulibaly told reporters on Wednesday.

The epidemic situation is under control and the health services strengthened surveillance to break the chains of transmission, he said, noting that people who were in contact with infected persons are undergoing lab tests, isolation and monitoring.

He added that the strain of the virus in Ivory Coast is less fatal than the one in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the hardest-hit country in Africa with at least 16,000 confirmed cases, including 548 deaths. The outbreak of the disease in Africa prompted the World Health Organization to declare, on Wednesday, August 14, a public health emergency
of international concern – the highest level of alert.

Source: Kuwait News Agency

Health authorities in Thailand announced on Wednesday the first suspected case of the new Mpox (Clade 1b).

Head of Thailand’s Department of Disease Control Thongchai Keeratihattayakorn said, “We have done a test and they definitely have Mpox and it’s definitely not Clade 2.” “We are convinced the person has the Clade 1 variant, but we have to wait to see the final result in the lab for two more days,” he added.

The suspected case was of European who came from Africa and arrived to Thailand on August 14, according to the Channel News of Asia, a Sigaporean multinational news channel.

Thailand had witnessed 827 cases of the Mpox Clade 2 variant between January 2022 and August of 2024.

The discovery of the Clade 1b strain in the Democratic Republic of Congo led the World Health Organization (WHO) declared Mpox a public health emergency of international concern on August 14.

Source: Kuwait News Agency

Paris – Ma’an – French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal announced that “232 vaccination centers have been opened to deal with the possibility of an outbreak of monkeypox,” and promised to provide 100,000 doses of vaccines to the most affected countries.

“We are ready to face all scenarios and risks. 232 vaccination centers have been opened across the country, and more will be opened,” he wrote on X.

He explained that “at the request of the President of the Republic, France will donate 100,000 doses of the vaccine.”

“These doses will be distributed across the European Union to areas where the virus is spreading strongly,” he added, stressing that these donations would “boost current European efforts by about 50%.”

Source: Maan News Agency

Paris – Ma’an – French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal announced that “232 vaccination centers have been opened to deal with the possibility of an outbreak of monkeypox,” and promised to provide 100,000 doses of vaccines to the most affected countries.

“We are ready to face all scenarios and risks. 232 vaccination centers have been opened across the country, and more will be opened,” he wrote on X.

He explained that “at the request of the President of the Republic, France will donate 100,000 doses of the vaccine.”

“These doses will be distributed across the European Union to areas where the virus is spreading strongly,” he added, stressing that these donations would “boost current European efforts by about 50%.”

Source: Maan News Agency

Together – Experts at the Institute of Industrial Economics and Trade at Seoul National University in Korea confirmed in a recent research study that switching to heated tobacco products increases the chances of quitting smoking completely, noting that the majority of users of heated tobacco products are people who smoked traditional cigarettes before switching to alternative products that rely on heating tobacco instead of burning it.

Experts also pointed out that there is no evidence that heated tobacco products may be a gateway to starting smoking, which is what the study conducted on about 4,514 adults showed. Rather, the study concluded that those who start smoking during adolescence are less likely to choose heated tobacco products, and prefer traditional cigarettes.

What is interesting about the results of this study, which included 2,356 non-smokers, 1,316 traditional smokers, and 842 users of heated tobacco products, is that it showed a greater tendency to switch to heated tobacco products among females, people with more education, those with children, those who work in office jobs, and those with health concerns.

The study also found that adult females aged 20-39 were more likely to switch to HTPs, regardless of their income levels. While males over 40 were more likely to switch to HTPs if they had a higher income.

In this context, the study pointed out that the Korean tobacco market has witnessed a major change since the launch of heated tobacco products in 2017, as their sales volume has increased significantly at the expense of traditional cigarettes. The study provided some data, while heated tobacco product sales represented only about 2.2% of total tobacco sales in the first year of its launch, this percentage rose to 12% in the first half of 2021.

Finally, the experts conclude that the changes in the Korean tobacco market provide an excellent research environment to explore the reasons why smokers adopt heated tobacco products, which is of particular importance to tobacco policymakers and regulators including taxation and market regulation.

Source: Maan News Agency