The Ministry of Health published Ministerial Decree No. 301/2026 in the official gazette Kuwait Al-Youm on Sunday outlining amendments to regulations on professional attire that now cover a broader group of clinical roles in both public and private healthcare facilities. The decree modifies a table from Ministerial Decree No. 198/2026 to establish specific scrub colors for each category of medical professional with immediate effect upon issuance. It applies the standards to all physicians dentists nurses midwives pharmacists and technicians in allied health professions according to the text of the decree itself.
Under the updated rules medical professions such as physicians and dentists must wear dark navy blue while supervisory staff from nursing and midwifery wear navy blue. Nursing and midwifery personnel will wear royal blue or white pharmacy practitioners will wear gray and technicians in allied health professions will wear olive green. The Ministry of Health indicated in the decree that these provisions take precedence over prior specifications and require communication to all relevant parties for full implementation.
This adjustment expands on Ministerial Decree No. 198/2026 which the ministry issued earlier in August and which had already set dark navy blue for doctors and dentists along with navy blue for supervisory nurses and royal blue or white for other nursing staff. The latest decree incorporates pharmacists and allied technicians into the framework after a review process that addressed gaps in the initial standardization effort. The Ministry of Health had previously granted the private sector a one-year extension for some color requirements while enforcing other aspects of professional appearance rules.
The color assignments form part of a wider set of dress code regulations that the ministry introduced through Ministerial Decree No. 70/2026 earlier in the year. Those rules emphasize clean modest and appropriate attire suitable for patient care environments and prohibit items such as ripped clothing shorts or sports caps during direct service delivery according to ministry announcements. The regulations also require staff to cover tattoos maintain personal hygiene and avoid strong scents that could affect patients or colleagues.
Ministry of Health statements have framed the standardization measures as a way to reinforce professional identity within healthcare settings and enable patients to identify staff roles more easily. The initiative aligns with efforts to improve institutional discipline support infection control practices and elevate overall service quality across facilities. Earlier related decrees approved three uniform designs for clinical scrubs including options for men women and Islamic women’s styles along with specifications for engineering and emergency roles.
Facilities must now update staff attire to match the designated colors with the decree becoming effective from its issuance date and subject to publication requirements. The Ministry of Health had conducted studies and gathered input before finalizing the additions for pharmacists and technicians ensuring alignment with operational needs in pharmacies and technical support areas. Compliance forms part of the ministry’s ongoing governance enhancements in the health sector that began with the initial decree in January.
