Call for prompt completion of national healthcare strategy

Egypt’s Minister of Health and Population Khaled Abdel-Ghaffar called for the speedy completion of the ministry strategy within the next few years, according to the health maps for each governorate to guarantees improved quality of health care in accordance with international standards.

This came during a meeting on Sunday with senior health officials to discuss the latest developments in the national health map, which aims to improve the quality and efficiency of the health system across the country, ministry spokesman Hossam Abdel-Ghaffar said.

The government is keen to improve medical services and develop the infrastructure of state-run hospitals and university medical facilities, the minister said.

He referred to strengthening the role of the private sector to upgrade all aspects of the medical system, as a key partner in development.

The talks also covered a review of some countries’ experiences in developing their health care system.

Abdel-Ghaffar stressed the importance of benefiting from the experiences of these countries and transferring them to Egypt according to the state’s capabilities, the spokesman said, adding that the ministry is working hard to automate all public services.

The state is keen to apply the universal health insurance system across the nation as a national priority in line with Egypt Vision 2030, he said, referring to the presidential initiative 100 Million Healthy Lives, which has been successful in the early monitoring and treatment of chronic diseases for all groups of Egyptian people.

The presidential initiative between October 2018 and April 2019 offered 60 million people screening for hepatitis C and non-communicable diseases.

As a result of the initiative new hepatitis infections are down 92 per cent annually, and more than 60 million have been examined nationwide.

The initiatives under100 Million Healthy Lives include the early detection of liver cancer and treatment in March 2022 and the elimination of waiting lists for critical operations in July 2018.

Another presidential initiative was for early detection of anemia, obesity and stunting in February 2019.

The government allocated LE310 billion to health sector in the 2022-2023 budget and a further LE128.1 billion for health is in the 2022-2023 draft budget, the minister said.