Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah El Sisi witnessed on Tuesday a dialogue session on population and the future of healthcare and comprehensive health insurance.
The session was held on the fringe of the Global Congress on Population, Health and Development (PHDC’23) which kicked off here this morning.
The session was moderated by Health and Population Minister Khaled Abdel Ghaffar with the participation of Ministers Hala Saeed of Planning and Economic Development and Mohamed Maait of Finance as well as Serbian Minister of Health Danica Grujičić, Chairman of the National Population Commission (NPC) Nasir Isa Kwarra, Human Development Director for Europe and Central Asia Region Fadia Saadah, UNFPA Arab States Regional Director Laila Baker and WHO Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean Ahmed Al Mandhari.
Planning Minister Hala Saeed said the challenge between the growing population and development is one of the oldest issues, noting that economists underlined in the 18th century the importance of realizing a balance between population and development.
Meanwhile, Serbian Health Minister Danica Grujičić stressed that the main goal of the conference is important as it brings together many countries to discuss health, population and development as these are vital issues for the world.
The Serbian minister said the population in Serbia is the opposite of that in Egypt as the population growth in Serbia receded over five consecutive decades.
She noted that her country is developing the quality of healthcare using new technologies.
Chairman of Nigeria’s National Population Commission (NPC) Nasir Isa Kwarra said Nigeria is one of the countries that signed the agreement of the PHD conference.
During the dialogue session, he said Nigeria has developed national population strategies to reduce the mortality rate of children and mothers to reach zero level by 2030 in addition to meeting the growing needs of population as this will affect educational and health services.
He added that international organizations offered $4 billion to draw up a number of programs, especially for family planning and healthcare.
Finance Minister Mohamed Maait asserted that President Sisi directed to allocate huge financial reserves for the comprehensive health insurance system so that the returns, alongside other revenues, will help ensure financial sustainability of the system.
The comprehensive health insurance system will replace all current systems, he said.
UNFPA Arab States Regional Director Laila Baker said the UNFPA backs the Egyptian government in forging a new population strategy based on four main factors, including financial support either direct or through supply chains.
She added that the UNFPA is interested in working with the Egyptian government to ensure balance in reproductive health linked to the 2023-2030 strategy.
