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The Egyptian healthcare sector, burgeoning with potential, offers a landscape rich in opportunities for investors, Minister of Health Khaled Abdel Ghaffar stated in a recent event organised by the British Egyptian Business Association (BEBA).
During a business Sohour in Cairo last week, the Egyptian minister said the state is encouraging more private-sector investments in various fields, with the health industry being undoubtedly one of them given the country’s future needs to increase the number of beds and hospitals. He even said the pharmaceutical sector also needs to be even more encouraged and more focused and supported by the government and the private sector.
Minister Abdel Ghaffar referred that the country had undergone some economic constraints, including the provision of hard currency and importing input materials and drug ingredients for pharmaceutical firms. However, now things are getting better and “we are getting everything right back to the normal track.”
In a bid to incentivise investment landscape, the minister said the Egyptian government succeeded in passing a lot of legislations to provide more incentives for the private sector. Among these legislations are providing incentives related to taxation as well as lands in different areas across the country, including 21 pieces of lands that are very highly selected in very prime locations.
From the beginning of 2023, the ministry of health has been revising all the legislations within the healthcare system so that it can promote more engagement of the private sector, he noted.
Minister Abdel Ghaffar even said that there are two legislations ready to go to the parliament so that the ministry can add more investment opportunities and more facilities as regards taxations and providing lands under concession agreements for different areas dedicated either for greenfield or brownfield investments.
“Investments in healthcare are now more open than ever. With robust legislative support and a well-defined roadmap for growth, we are on track to incorporate 7000 additional beds and further enhancements into our healthcare infrastructure within the next three years.” Minister Abdel Ghaffar told Khaled Nosseir, BEBA Chairman, “… certainly, the pharmaceutical industry is part of this target.”
Minister of Health Khaled Abdel Ghaffar with Khaled Nosseir, BEBA Chairman, during the Business Sohour in Cairo on Monday, March 24, 2024 (BEBA Photo)
Universal Health Coverage
As regards to the Universal Health Coverage System, Minister Abdel Ghaffar said it represents a great opportunity and proper timing for the private sector to contribute to the project. In the first phase, it covered five governorates and five more in the second phase.
The ministry of health is “decisive and committed” to cooperate with the private sector and work more with partners in different areas to ensure witnessing more progress in the Universal Health Coverage Project, and adding at least 7000 beds within the next few years. This means the necessity of having more hospitals as well, the minister noted.
“The involvement of the private sector within the health sector is very important in order to promote an implementation of the universal health coverage to be the default of health services in Egypt even within the next 10 years.” the minister stated.
Health Initiatives
Asked about upcoming health initiatives following Egypt’s big success story to eliminate hepatitis C virus, Minister Abdel Ghaffar mentioned that the ministry is tirelessly working on existing and new initiatives to safeguard the citizens’ physical, social, and mental wellbeing.
He said Egypt had managed to become the first country to achieve the gold tier status on the path to the elimination of hepatitis C as per the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) criteria. The WHO and the whole world have commended Egypt’s astounding journey from having one of the world’s highest rates of hepatitis C infection to being on the track to elimination in less than 10 years.
Furthermore, Minister Abdel Ghaffar also referred to the Egyptian Women’s Health Initiative, designed to screen carcinoma of the breast at an early stage for 28 million women governorate-wide; pursue clinical examination; and provide free-of-charge treatment.
“… we did a very good achievement … we scanned and we more than 20 million ladies from age 18 and above and we managed to discover early and treat early cases with the early diagnosis and that was also a great achievement.” the minister said.
He further said around less than a year ago the ministry of health is working on an important initiative for the early diagnosis and treatment of prostate, lung, and colorectal cancers.
These four types of cancer will make big difference. “This is a new initiative that we have started achieving very good results in several cases.” the minister highlighted.
Minister Abdel Ghaffar announced that there would be a new initiative dedicated for the autism and psychological or mental disorders.
“We should consider physical, mental, and social health. These are the three corners of health.”
Globally, the percentage of mental disorders is about around 25 per cent of the population suffering from one or more mental disorders. Meanwhile, in Egypt, according to the Ministry of Health’s recent research based on a survey conducted in 2017 survey, there are around 24 per cent of the population suffering from mental disorders.
Moreover, the minister referred to another initiative related to mandatory pre-marriage examination to detect some genetic disorders such as thalassemia, HIV, etc.
Among the esteemed guests who attended BEBA’s Business Sohour were Minister of Finance Mohamed Maait; Minister of International Cooperation Rania A. Al-Mashat; British Ambassador to Egypt Gareth Bayley; and Ambassador of the Republic of Korea to Egypt Kim Yonghyon. This is in addition to Hossam Heiba, President of the General Authority for Investment and Free Zones (GAFI); and Mr. Mohanad Khaled, Chairman of the Egyptian British Chamber of Commerce.
