The two-day Egyptian-French Health Forum opened Monday in Cairo, bringing together French and Egyptian officials and French companies operating in the health sector. France's Ambassador to Egypt Stephane Romatet told the conference French companies were attending the event because they were interested in exploring investment opportunities in Egypt's health sector. He added that France is willing to help train doctors in Egyptian hospitals to aid Egypt in its quest to upgrade medical services. A 13-strong French delegation headed by Lamine Gharbi, president of the Federation of Private Hospitals (FHP) and president of the Movement of the Enterprises of France (MEDEF), the country's largest employer federation, also attended the forum. Participants discussed universal health insurance, future reform of the pharmaceutical sector, French expertise in integrated health systems and approaches to improving healthcare in Egypt. The government is working on an ambitious plan to roll out improved health insurance coverage and a new public health insurance law was ratified earlier this year by President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi. “We are currently discussing how French companies might work with the Egyptian government as consultants in the healthcare system, focusing on areas such as e-health and technology. We have also discussed hospital management, and the biggest project for us at the moment is manufacturing plasma,” Minister of Health Hala Zayed said in reference to discussions with French companies and officials. Investment Minister Sahar Nasr stressed that Egypt was eager to benefit from French expertise in the health sector, highlighting the fact healthcare is a cabinet priority, and briefed participants about her ministry's efforts to encourage foreign investors to come to Egypt. For years Egypt's public health system has been criticised as substandard. A new health insurance law was proposed in October 2017 to overcome the shortcomings of the old system. The new healthcare system will count among the greatest achievements in Egyptian history, Al-Ahram Chairman Abdel-Mohsen Salama told the conference, and is a step that should have been taken 40 years ago. The new system began to be rolled out in July. Presidential Spokesman Bassam Radi says the first phase includes “the elimination of patient waiting lists for surgery and other critical interventions within six months, increasing the supplies of infant formula and vaccines, and massively expanding the availability of Hepatitis C treatments.” The new insurance law is scheduled to be applied in six stages, ending in 2032. The forum was co-organised by French companies working in the Egyptian health sector, in cooperation with the French Embassy, with the support of the French Development Agency and in partnership with Al-Ahram Hebdo.
