Waiting lists of patients in critical conditions to be finished by Ramadan

CAIRO - 27 March 2019: The Ministry of Health and Population carried out surgeries for 118,000 patients in critical conditions and is seeking to provide the service for the remaining patients before the advent of the holy month of Ramadan.

That comes within a presidential initiative launched last year to eliminate waiting lists as soon as possible. The breakdown as indicated by the ministry’s spokesperson on Wednesday is 60,048 heart catheterizations, 10,865 open heart surgeries, 27,413 eye surgeries, 4,034 neurosurgeries, 5,156 bone surgeries, 5,353 cancer surgeries, 905 cochlear implantations, 130 kidney transplantations, and 139 liver transplantations.

Minister Hala Zayed made a decision to redistribute the number of surgeries allocated to each hospital taking part in the initiative. Those include hospitals affiliated with the Police, the Armed Forces and NGOs, the International Medical Center, Wadi Al Nile Hospital, and specialized hospitals. Once the health insurance hospitals are renovated, they will be part of the initiative.

The recent move will also inhibit the build-up of other waiting lists, particularly those pertinent to open heart surgeries, heart catheterizations, and eye surgeries. The minister also instructed the committee in charge to follow up with patients who are on the waiting lists but did not come to the designated hospitals to receive treatment.

The ministry is also redistributing patients among governorates so that patients from crowded governorates receive treatment in nearby less condensed ones. The costs of transportation will be covered by the charity NGOs Al Orman, and Zakat and Sadakat House.

The ministry is also expanding the capacity of public hospitals to accommodate more patients. The rate of surgeries accomplished in March surged by 45 percent compared to the previous month.

The ministry has provided treatment for 650,000 patients within the “100 million healthy lives” campaign which has taken place over 150 days. Forty five million citizens have been screened in all 27 governorates. Since the third phase kicked off on March 1, 14,037,422 citizens have been screened until now.

Results breakdown of '100 Million Healthy Lives'

CAIRO - 16 February 2019: Egypt Today acquired from Executive Manager of the National Committee for Control of Viral Hepatitis (NCCVH) the results of the first and second phases of the nationwide "100 Million Healthy Lives" launched by President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi.