Egypt's National Cancer Institute serves 300K patients per annum

CAIRO – 29 November 2020: Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research Khaled Abdel Ghaffar stated in a phone-in that 300,000 patients seek the National Cancer Institute (NCI) every year.

The minister added that 155 out-patients turn up daily to the institute, where 730 doctors work.

In August 2019, the NCI was subject to a terror attack as a car bomb ploughed into the building. The damages were only material with no human losses.

The president of Cairo University said that all departments of the National Cancer Institute have resumed receiving patients and carrying out surgeries days after being partially damaged by a deadly blast.

 

In an interview with Egypt Today, Mohamed Othman al-Khosht, president of Cairo University, said that the renovation of the main building of the Institute is underway, adding that the state works to increase the capacity of the Institute by 34 percent through completing the construction of its southern building.
 

A blast took place in front of Cairo's Cancer Institute building earlier in August 2019, killing 22 people and injuring 47 others, according to the official figures. The explosion occurred because of a car that contained explosives and drove wrong-way to crash into three other cars in front of the building, according to the Interior Ministry.
 

The ministry blamed the incident on Hasm movement figures, believed to be affiliated with the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood group, and arrested those involved in the incident, according to a statement it issued on Thursday August 8.
 

The Church, led by Pope Tawadros II of Alexandria, and a number of Egyptian public figures announced donating for the restoration works of the institute: Businessman Hisham Talaat Mostafa donated LE 10 million, Dar Al-Orman Association donated LE 10 million, the Ministry of Social Solidarity allocated LE 5 million from the budget of Nasser Social Bank to the restoration of the building, businessman Naguib Sawiris donated LE 1 million, businessman Ahmed Abou Hashima donated LE 1 million, Garhy Steel donated LE 3 million, and businessman Mohamed AboulEnein announced he would donate any quantity of ceramic needed.
 

Few days following the incident, the Interior Ministry said it identified the terrorist who was involved in the explosion, saying that he is a Hasm movement member who hadbeen involved in a 2018 terrorist case.
 

The investigations also led the police forces to two locations were the Hasm terrorist hide in Fayoum and Cairo. The police forces raided the hideouts, killing a total of 15 fighters, according to the ministry, and seizing a number of weapons, bullets and explosives.