President praises health care staff for sacrifices amid pandemic
“State accepts opposition views aiming to improve people’s lives”
President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi expressed appreciation to the medical sector workers, whether those who were martyred while carrying out their mission to confront the coronavirus pandemic or those who are still preserving and sacrificing their mission to protect the Egyptians from the pandemic.
Speaking during the inauguration of a new medical complex in Ismailia city, north-eastern Egypt, President Sisi announced that the state will make every effort to complete the implementation of the comprehensive health insurance system in all governorates nationwide for all family members within 10 years instead of the previous plan that was intended to be implemented within 15 years.
The President stressed that the state is ready to re-do hepatitis C examinations for 70 million citizens for treatment, which would be of high cost. He indicated that the treatment of two million people who were suffering from hepatitis C before the outbreak of coronavirus, protected them from the pandemic and its repercussions.
The President also said that healthcare and education sectors are part of the human rights that the state is trying to ensure for citizens, denouncing in this regard that human rights are only restricted to freedom of expression.
The President said that it is the right of everyone to express their opinions but opposition should mainly be for the sake of improving the lives and conditions of people. He said the state “accepts opposition views that aim to improve people’s lives and not aim to be opposition only for opposition’s sake.”
“Yes, people have the right to express their opinion and people have the right to have an opposition,” the president said.
President Sisi also raised the issue of overpopulation, saying that the rate of population growth needs to be reduced to 400,000 people per year in order to ensure a high-level educational and healthcare system, access to good nutrition and adequate job opportunities. Otherwise, the President said, we won’t feel the impact of public spending [on national projects and infrastructure].
Sisi called on intellectuals, media professionals and universities to raise awareness of the dangers of overpopulation and to hold forums to raise public awareness of the seriousness of this problem, which adversely affects the state’s efforts to achieve comprehensive development.
For the 100 million Egyptians to feel the impact of development programmers, our annual GDP must be $100 trillion which is beyond our capacity, President Sisi added.,
“Didn’t you do a revolution in 2011 for a better life? It won’t happen with a population crisis…Overpopulation is a national security matter,” the president reiterated.
“Why would you get a child you aren’t able to feed and don’t know how they would be employed? The outcome is 50% living in slums and building residences on agricultural land depleting our source of food,” the president questioned.
“You overwhelm yourself and the state. Then, you revolt and the series of destruction goes on,” the president complained.
The Ismailia Medical Complex that the President opened yesterday includes several integrated treatment centres in different specialties and emergency departments to provide medical services to the people according to the latest international accreditation and quality standards.
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