“Egypt’s Health System Between Reality and Aspirations”

Egypt’s health sector suffered huge challenges throughout the past two years because of the Corona virus and its serious repercussions; the state has pushed all its potential to face this pandemic, to preserve the lives of citizens. This pandemic was at a time when the Government implements an ambitious strategy to improve the health care system through a package of health initiatives and the application of a comprehensive health insurance system to increase the challenges facing the health sector in Egypt.

In this symposium, Canada Egypt Business Council and the Egyptian Business Council for International Cooperation had the honor to host H.E. Dr. Khaled Abd El-Ghafar; Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research and Acting Minister of Health and Population discussing the topic “Egypt’s Health System Between Reality and Aspirations”

 In his opening remarks Mr. Motaz Raslan; on behalf of CEBC & ECIC; was pleased to welcome the presence of H.E. Dr. Khaled Abd El-Ghafar, our dear distinguished ambassadors, members, guests, and the followers of the meeting via online live streaming hoping that things will return to normal soon and our meetings will be with the direct attendance of all. Mr. Raslan started his word by confirming that the health sector in Egypt is considered as a significant challenge for successive governments, despite all the efforts made for years to improve health care services and meet the ambitions and hopes of citizens.

He added that it would have been difficult for the health situation in Egypt to continue in this way, otherwise the consequences would be dire. Therefore, the political leadership paid great attention to the health file and placed it at the top of its priorities, to witness a radical transformation that contributed to alleviate the repercussions of the epidemic. Mr. Raslan went on to explain that the state’s efforts were launched in two main directions; first: the rehabilitation and development of the health infrastructure, and second: the launch of a package of health reforms, to expedite the provision of services quickly with international quality standards. Then he gave the floor to H.E. Dr. Khaled Abd El-Ghafar.

From his part, H.E. Dr. Khaled Abd El-Ghafar affirmed that Egypt did not witness a shortage of medicines or medical supplies during the pandemic, noting that the number of hospitals designated to isolate Corona virus patients was reduced in conjunction with the decrease in the number of infections, due to expanded campaigns for vaccination against the Corona virus, H.E. the Minister noted that Egypt worked to combat the impact of the Corona virus based on two main strategies; first, achieving a balance between applying health measures  and second, maintaining the continuity of the economic recovery and development. He added that the World Health Organization places Egypt among the countries with safe infection and death rates, and among the countries that have been able to control the epidemic so far, pointing to the significance of research and development besides the forecasting systems that supported decision-makers.

H.E. Dr. Khaled Abd El-Gafar added that the solidarity of medical institutions gave the society a message of reassurance that the state can provide the best health care for citizens, and he indicated that Egypt was able to secure the needed vaccines quantities until the end of 2022, at a time when the number of isolation hospitals was simultaneously reduced, a decrease in the number of cases, noting that President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi has put the health care sector on top of the state’s agenda, along with the education and scientific research during the past seven years. The Minister went on to explain the presidential initiatives in the field of public health, which he described as a great success story for Egypt, noting that 12 initiatives were launched to provide many medical services for all age groups free of charge. He also noted that these initiatives contributed to improving the public health sector, as well as their importance in establishing an integrated database of citizens, pointing out that there are ongoing studies to launch many initiatives in various disciplines.

Then the session was opened for questions and answers where many questions and suggestions were discussed and many attendees praised the ongoing efforts of the Ministry of Health and Population