Infrastructure required to implement 1st phase of Egypt's Universal Health Insurance System costs LE34B

CAIRO – 16 December 2020: Deputy Minister of Health and Population Ahmed al-Sobky told Egypt Today that the infrastructure required to implement the first phase of the Universal Health Insurance System costs LE34.08 billion.

Sobky clarified that the ministry works on eight aspects that are: strategic planning; infrastructure and equipment; automation and digitalization; institutional transformation; training human resources; the registration of citizens; the registration of doctors and medical establishments; and, awareness and media.

The strategic planning involves determining the demography of each governorate in order to identify its medical needs. The infrastructure and equipment aspect is about devising plans for renovating and upgrading medical establishments as well as building new ones, if needed. For the system to be implemented in a smooth modern fashion, cables, devices, and software programs are being introduced in order to create databases and carry out various processes.

Minister of Health and Population Hala Zayed unveiled early in November the timeline of introducing the comprehensive health insurance system in five governorates.

The system will be introduced in Luxor and Aswan governorates in December, in Ismailiyah in February, and in Suez and South Sinai in March.

For that purpose, seven hospitals and 59 medical units are being upgraded in Luxor; 12 hospitals and 39 medical units are being developed in Ismailiyah; and, 11 hospitals and 112 medical units are being renovated in Aswan. The pilot operation will begin in Ismailiyah in November before the official launching in February.

The numbers of hospitals and medical units to be part of the system in Suez are five and 27, respectively. The figures for South Sinai are eight and 22, respectively. The pilot phase in those governorates starts mid-December prior to the official launching in March.

The system was first introduced in Port Said in August 2019 through 11 hospitals and 32 medical units. It is being introduced gradually in all the 27 governorates until 2032.