Health min.: Sisi pays great attention to citizens' health

CAIRO - 2 January 2018: Health Minister Hala Zayed on Tuesday asserted that President Abdel Fattah El Sisi pays great attention to the health of citizens, citing his directives to prepare effective training programs for all staffers at the Health Ministry.

In an interview with Egyptian state television, the minister revealed that the president called for raising the salaries of all employees at model hospitals and health insurance hospitals in a gradual way.

She pointed out that her ministry has managed to end patient waiting lists for Hepatitis C treatment in just two months, instead of six.

Since the start of the presidential campaign to combat Hepatitis C and detect chronic diseases, the Central Bank of Egypt and other financing banks have provided about EGP 1.9 billion to put an end to the waiting lists, she said.

Following the end of waiting lists, the president directed conducting an overall Hepatitis C scan for all citizens, she noted.

Zayed said the Health Ministry is currently working on educating citizens about the necessity of family planning, referring to a package of measures the state will take in this regard.

The health insurance system will see a great progress in 2019, she added.

As for the medicine file, Zayed clarified that the Health Ministry seeks to address all problems facing the medicine industry.

With regard to the shortage in some medicines, the minister asserted that all drugs and their alternatives have been supplied in the market, in addition to the localization of oncology drugs.

As for insulin, Zayed said that the country will cover the insulin industry by 100% in 2019 and the first half of 2020.

Concerning the baby formula, she unveiled that three million packets are provided in strategic stores in Alexandria and Cairo, as well as the supply of milk products to the people with special needs.