Egypt to launch campaign for registering 1M disabled citizens in integrated services card system

CAIRO – 23 July 2023: Minister of Social Solidarity Nevine al-Qabbaj told the Middle East News Agency (MENA) Sunday that a campaign would be launched soon to issue one million integrated services cards with the aim of facilitating the measures for the disabled and their families.

Qabbaj elaborated that the ministry would join forces with civil society for volunteers as well as rural female leaders to reach the residences of disabled citizens to register their data and card requests.

There are 12 types of eligible disabilities, and those are blindness, hearing loss, cerebral palsy, poliomyelitis, quadriplegia, dwarfism, severe mental disabilities, longitudinal paralysis, lower hemiplegia, severe muscle atrophy, amputation, and autism.

By showing the card, they are entitled to free medical care at the ministry's affiliate units distributed nationwide. It is noted that 1.17 million cards have already been issued. Yet, the number of the disabled who acquired the services of 795 rehabilitation and care centers has hit 1.9 million.

Minister Qabbaj noted that announcements had been made for the launch of an application dedicated to the registration of disabled women. Until present, 180,000 women had been registered, so as the ministry is examining their social, economic, educational, and professional conditions as well as the type of their jobs, social insurance status, and sources of their social protection.

The social solidarity minister underscored that LE8.2 billion in monetary subsidies are being disbursed to 1,214,373 citizens annually. Further, LE3.4 million are paid to sign language interpreters at public universities in 18 governorates. Also, laptops were purchased at LE22 million for visually-impaired students.

In a related context, the ministry announced in May that the number of disabled students benefiting from the designated units at public units has hit 12,100.

The ministry-affiliated units had determined the needs of the students through surveys and focus groups, a press statement by the ministry indicated.

As such, the tuition fees of 3,000 disabled low-income students were paid by the ministry, and 1,700 prosthetic devices were provided free of charge. Those consist of wheelchairs, white sticks, assistive listening devices, and laptop computers equipped with screen readers for the blind.

Further, events, attended by 5,600 students, were held to raise awareness on helping disabled colleagues.

Most importantly, 17 sports and entertainment camps were held so as they included activities like blind football, wheelchair race, handball, tennis, music playing, and singing.

Simultaneously, workshops on handicrafts, such as decoupage, home accessories, broderie, and crochet, were also held. In addition, 1,670 comprehensive service cards were issued for disabled students to facilitate their access to free-of-charge services offered by the government.