Reforming the Health System in Egypt.. Challenges and Solution

In recent years, the reform of the health system has received special attention from the Egyptian government , where it has taken many steps and actions to meet the anticipation of citizens and improve the quality of health services, on top of which Health insurance law as well as the establishment of the Egyptian drug authority and the plans to expand the establishment and development of hospitals , but despite all these efforts , there are many challenges that still face this sector and are looking for solutions. In this context CEBC and ECSD organized an event with H.E Prof. Dr. Ahmed Emad Eldin Rady Minister of Health and Population to discuss the Reforming of the Health System in Egypt and its Challenges and Solutions.

In the opening remarks, Eng. Moataz Raslan welcomed all members and guests, then he mentioned that that the most important challenges facing the health system in Egypt are the weak budget, lack of medicines, the deterioration of hospitals infrastructure, and the shortage of doctors and nursing staff, where the current statistics and data show that Egypt is in need of 36 thousand doctor by 2020 and about 2,500 beds per year to meet the demand for health services.

He pointed out that the political leadership has given the health sector a great attention and that what has been achieved in the past years represents a historic step in the march of the health sector, where 1.5 million patients have been treated from virus C virus in a year and a half, and the launching of the comprehensive health insurance law which will contribute to solving many outstanding crises in the sector.

H.E Prof. Dr. Ahmed Emad Eldin Rady Minister of Health and Population announced that the president will open 30 hospitals in nine governorates in two weeks. He pointed out that Egypt from 1997 to 2015 has not witnessed the establishment of any new hospital, but currently there is a great interest from the political leadership in developing the health system, as since the past two years the government had been working on the opening and development of 72 hospitals in various provinces.

The minister stressed that there is a great support from the political leadership to improve the health system, as it is currently conducting a survey to examine about 48.5 million citizens to know the probability of their infection with any virus.

He revealed that the World Bank has offered a loan of about 200 million dollars to be paid over 25 years to support the government’s efforts to eliminate virus C. He further explained that the medical survey was completed for 5.5 million citizens in 14 months, and stressed that the President directed medical surveys in all the governorates of the Republic, and since the 13^th of February, a medical survey of nearly half million people has been completed and is expected to be completed for 15 million people by the end of this year.

The Minister said that the law of health insurance represents a qualitative leap in the health system in Egypt and will achieve a return when it applies to all Egyptians by 800 billion pounds, which is equivalent to half of the state budget, and the share of citizens from spending on health will rise to 2440 pounds in the first year of application, compared to about 178 pounds in the current period. He stressed that the health insurance will be compulsory for all Egyptians, adding that the statistics were indicating that the incidence of virus C is in the range of 10%, but the latest surveys of the Ministry revealed that the rate is of only 5%.

He explained that the law of health insurance in Port Said province will be applied next July to about 800 thousand citizen, and will achieve 8 billion pounds, which cost was 2.5 billion pounds and the return of more than 5 billion pounds, also that the health insurance system will eliminate the private sector, which gives many advantages to doctors and nursing staff, to compete with the private sector.

The minister illustrated that Egypt is on track to produce oncology drugs within a year through cooperation between a company and VACSERA, and a Russian company plans to produce oncology drugs in Egypt. He added that the company will be exposed to the implementation of the first Egyptian plant for blood derivatives investments of 6 billion pounds within days, explaining that the idea of ​​the project was presented to the President in Ramadan 2016, and was working to be on the ground in months.

 The minister revealed that the Tourism Committee, which was formed for the first time and includes several bodies including the Ministries of Health and Tourism, has completed the identification of hospitals working in the field of medical tourism, and is currently working on the procedures of medical visa, also a website has been created to present all services and procedures within 3 weeks.

The floor was opened for questions and answers sessions where several ideas and suggestions were discussed considering the improvement and development of the health sector and the opportunities that must be exploited for further growth.