Wael Salem
The presidential initiatives that focus on healthcare have achieved unprecedented success, benefiting over 90 million citizens.
Achievements through medical initiatives are a source of pride for all Egyptians, especially the 100 Million Healthy Lives Initiative and those related to the coronavirus pandemic, said Dr Hassan Tawfik, former chairman of the Health Insurance Authority.
“Egypt has made positive improvements in the healthcare sector over the past few years,” Tawfik told The Egyptian Gazette.
He said that the state is working hard to become a leading country in this area, as it seeks to apply the Universal Healthcare Insurance System (UHIS), which is a great plan to cover all Egyptians with proper healthcare services.
A sizeable number of health initiatives have been launched since President Abdel Fattah El Sisi took office in June 2014 to provide free medical services across the country, Health Minister Khaled Abdel Ghaffar said in recent press remarks.
These initiatives include elimination of hepatitis C, early detection of non-communicable diseases, maternal health care, early detection of genetic diseases in newborns, early detection and treatment of hearing impairment for children, early examination of anemia, and obesity for school students, follow-up of women’s health and treatment of chronic diseases, early detection of kidney disease, and ending waiting surgery lists.
The Egyptian government has managed to offer comprehensive health care in parallel with efforts to confront the coronavirus pandemic by providing anti-virus vaccinations and improving medical services in all state-run hospitals and medical facilities.
The ‘100 Million Healthy Lives Initiative’ has contributed to declaring Egypt free of hepatitis C by the World Health Organisation (WHO). This is considered an unprecedented development as 70 million citizens from 18 to 60 years old were screened within 7 months as part of the initiative to eliminate hepatitis C, and that treatment was provided free of charge to 2.2 million citizens.
The initiative has helped reduce the cost of treating the disease and its complications, which annually amounts to LE64 billion, protecting 150,000 people from virus C infection annually.
The WHO hailed Egypt’s health efforts, especially the 100 Million Health initiative, which remarkably contributed to offering better services for the Egyptians.
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