Despite an improvement in Egyptians’ health during the past 20 years noted by World Bank Group and represented in an increase in life expectancy from 64.5 years to 70.5 years, such an improvement was not achieved with equality.
In its paper titled “A Roadmap to Achieve Social Justice in Health Care in Egypt”, the World Bank proposed to the Egyptian government in January a vision to reform the healthcare system and make it more just.
The Egyptian government is currently working on issuing a new legislation to change the current health insurance system.
The bank adopted in its paper the concept of health equality. The concept was elaborated by the World Health Organisation in 2010 as the process of providing people with the quality health services they need free of charge, said Alaa Hamed, senior health specialist in the Middle East and North Africa at the World Bank who contributed to drafting the World Bank’s proposed vision to Egypt.
While 20 percent of Egypt’s richest citizens spend 13.5 percent of their income on health services, the least privileged 20 percent of the population spend 21 percent of their income on such services. Hamed said the figures represent “a huge burden on the poor,” adding that lifting the burden of health services for the less privileged should be sought when setting health policies.
The controversy stirred by the concept of health equality stems from concern that some social strata might fall into poverty due to health spending, Hamed said.
Source: Aswat Masriya
