8M students examined as part of Egypt's early detection of diseases inititaive: Ministry

CAIRO - 4 April 2023: The Ministry of Health and Population confirmed that 8 million students in various schools in the country have been examined, as part of President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi's initiative, for the early detection of diseases (anemia, obesity and dwarfism) among primary school students.

 

The initiative was launched in the current academic year on December 6, 2022 and it will continue to operate until the end of the current school year in all governorates. 

 

Dr. Hossam Abdel Ghaffar, the official spokesman for the Ministry of Health and Population, stated that the initiative aims to examine students in the primary stage, both Egyptians and non-Egyptians residing in Egypt, in 30,000 public and private schools.

 

Abdel Ghaffar added that the initiative’s services include conducting a medical survey for students, measuring weight, height, and hemoglobin in the blood, detecting malnutrition diseases, and setting up the necessary mechanisms to improve students’ health, in coordination with the Ministry of Education and Technical Education.

 

For his part, Dr. Mohamed Dahi, Head of the General Authority for Health Insurance, said that cases infected with any of these diseases included in the initiative are transferred to health insurance clinics, to complete the necessary examinations and disburse treatment for free. 

 

These students are also handed a “follow-up card” that contains their data, in order to follow them up periodically and check on their health continuously through 255 health insurance clinics in all governorates of the Republic.

 

Dr. Tamer Samir, Coordinator of the Presidential Initiative, indicated that the medical teams participating in the initiative amounted to 2,400 teams, and each team consists of 3 individuals (a nurse, a laboratory technician, and an administrator) who have been trained in examination and diagnosis protocols, and they have also been trained in infection control standards.

 

He stressed that all the tasks of the initiative are carried out with all precautionary and preventive measures taken, indicating that the survey takes place throughout the year to prevent crowding among students, and health education teams in the governorates provide awareness to students on how to adhere to precautionary measures to preserve their health, pointing to the allocation of the hotline 106 to respond to citizens' inquiries about the initiative.