Cherry-picking

Around five million patients visited public hospitals in Bahrain between January and October last year, including 1, 059, 643 expats. 

Health Minister Faeqa bint Saeed Al Saleh yesterday confirmed that out of the five  million, 890, 796 patients were received in Salmaniya Medical Complex alone, out of which 121, 315 were expats.

The Minister also stated that more than BD48 million had been spent by the government on the medication expenses of non-Bahrainis in the past five years.

Her statements came as part of her reply to parliamentary queries of MPs Mohammed Milad and Osama Al Khaja about the numbers of Bahrainis and expats, who visit public hospitals and health centres in the country and the expenses borne by the Ministry to provide healthcare services.

However, in the statistics provided by the Health Minister, it was shown that the cost of medication for Bahrainis took a lion’s share of its spending, with more than BD194 million spent on citizens’ medications between 2010 and 2014.

As for foreign workers registered with the Ministry’s treatment programmes, Al Saleh said there were 298, 231 expats, who costed the Ministry an annual average of BD106 each and visit public healthcare centres 2-3 times a year.

“The Ministerial Decision 29 of 2014 obliges employers to providing basic healthcare services to employees regardless of their numbers,” Al Saleh affirmed

This will be discussed further during the next weekly meeting of the Council of Representatives on Tuesday in the presence of the Minister.