The Medical Response Team of the Philippine Embassy in Kuwait’s Assistance to National Unit, in collaboration with the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration and the volunteer nurse facilitated the medical repatriation to the Philippines of two terminally ill Filipinos in Kuwait. (Kuwait PE photo)
14 January 2020 – The Medical Response Team (MRT) of the Philippine Embassy in Kuwait’s Assistance to Nationals (ATN) Unit continues to provide medical assistance to overseas Filipinos in Kuwait, extending assistance to 108 Filipinos with various illnesses in the year 2019.
The Embassy MRT is an initiative of Chargé d’Affaires, a.i. and Consul General Mohd. Noordin Pendosina N. Lomondot, who formed the team in early 2018 to address the various medical concerns of overseas Filipinos in Kuwait.
In a statement, Chargé d’Affaires Lomondot said,“The Embassy’s Medical Response Team is here to provide any assistance needed by Filipinos in Kuwait, such as medical referrals to hospitals and clinics, regular hospital visits, as well as the facilitation of Filipino patients’ hospital expenses, and their repatriation to the Philippines, if deemed necessary.”
Chargé d’Affaires Lomondot added, “The Embassy’s MRT also serves as the bridge between Filipino patients and their families in the Philippines, who wish to ascertain the condition of their loved ones in Kuwait.”
In 2019, the Embassy’s MRT visited and assisted 108 distressed Filipinos with various medical conditions such as stroke, cancer, high blood pressure, diabetes, and fractured body parts, among others. Among the 108, the team facilitated the medical repatriation to the Philippines of 27 sick Filipinos, some of whom are already terminally ill and whose only wish is to be reunited with their loved ones back home.
In 2019, the Embassy’s MRT also referred around a hundred Filipinos to primary, secondary, and tertiary hospitals and clinics in Kuwait for medical check-up and corresponding treatment.
Also last year, the Embassy’s MRT facilitated the repatriation of human remains of 88 Filipinos, who passed away in Kuwait, mostly due to natural causes.
For Filipinos whose hospitalization or repatriation will not be shouldered by their employers, the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) Fund or the P1-billion ATN Fund of the Department of Foreign Affairs may be tapped to pay for the hospitalization, medical repatriation, or the shipment of human remains of meritorious cases.
As part of its duty to safeguard the welfare and well-being of overseas Filipinos in Kuwait with illnesses, the Embassy’s MRT regularly undergo trainings and workshops to increase their knowledge in the field of medicine, such as the Antibiotics Forum last 22 October 2019.
“As we enter a new year, the Embassy assures the more than 230,000 overseas Filipinos in Kuwait that it will continue to do its best to address the various concerns of our kababayan, including their medical needs,” Chargé d’Affaires Lomondot concluded. END
The Medical Response Team of the Philippine Embassy in Kuwait’s Assistance to National Unit checks the condition of a Filipino patient, who is confined at the Mubarak Al-Kabeer Hospital. (Kuwait PE photo)
The Medical Response Team of the Philippine Embassy in Kuwait’s Assistance to Nationals (ATN) Unit is composed of: (from right to left) ATN Officer Luiz Carlos I. Osorio, Marife A. Soriano-Guba, and Yasmeen Sañosa D. Akasha. (Kuwait PE photo)
