The battle over restructuring Egypt's health insurance system takes a new turn. Hala Sakr peers round the corner
The Court of Administrative Justice's ruling last week to suspend prime ministerial decree 637 of March 2007, which established the (...)
As doctors stage protests across the country, Hala Sakr reviews the ongoing battle between the Ministry of Health and physicians
The confrontation between Egyptian physicians and the government entered a new stage last week when, on 23 April, amid (...)
Heated disputes at the Doctors' Syndicate have done little to clarify the situation, writes Hala Sakr
An emergency general assembly of the Doctors' Syndicate was called last Friday amid growing differences among the medical profession on how best to (...)
Hala Sakr asks if differences of opinion over the legality of the proposed strike by doctors will destroy their united front as they press for better wages and conditions
In his opening speech to the ceremony marking Doctors' Day, celebrated on 18 (...)
Can disability efforts in Egypt overcome the obstacles on the way? Hala Sakr seeks some answers
Following my friend into the kitchen, little blue caps were stacked up on the table, spotlessly clean. "Is this a new collection frenzy that caught you (...)
In an unexpected move, the Doctors' Syndicate has called off a strike scheduled for Saturday, writes Hala Sakr
Following an emergency meeting on Sunday the Council of the Doctors' Syndicate and the Union of Egyptian Physicians has decided to suspend (...)
The incentive package the Ministry of Health has proposed for doctors does not even begin to meet their basic demands, writes Hala Sakr
The confrontation between Egyptian physicians and the government escalated last Friday when more than 3,000 (...)
Ramadan TV is over, but one serialised drama lives on: Hala Sakr seeks out informed opinion regarding the controversy surrounding the monarch's portrayal in King Farouk, which though restricted to the Saudi satellite channel during Ramadan is now (...)
Everyone agrees the health system is falling apart. What arouses controversy is the government's prescription for reform, writes Hala Sakr
The first National Egyptian Conference on the Right to Health convened at the Press Syndicate on 2 October, (...)
Most people seem to think it's safer but, asks Hala Sakr, is the shisha any healthier than its ubiquitous counterpart?
"Today we ordered 30 shishas [water pipe] all at once," my 15-year-old son Ahmed reported, amused. It was the last day of school, (...)
Landmines are an explosive problem, especially when Egypt wants to develop an area filled with them. Hala Sakr reports on a landmark conference
Egypt's efforts to tackle its serious landmine problem were the focus of a two-day conference last week. (...)
Was King Farouk's sudden death in Italy 40 years ago a secret service plot? Hala Sakr seeks out the views of leading Egyptian historians
King Farouk I, the last ruling member of the Mohamed Ali dynasty, left Egypt for the last time on board the (...)
Will a recent Doctors Syndicate endorsement of Egypt's first "Patients' Rights" document trigger more positive change for health care? Hala Sakr looks for answers
Earlier this month, the Doctors' Syndicate gave its overwhelming approval and support (...)
Children's mental well-being under occupation and in conflict remains a grave problem, writes Hala Sakr
As political and social turmoil persist across the Middle East, the mental well-being of the population, particularly children, remains a major (...)
Hala Sakr examines the causes and international ramifications of the SARS epidemic
Fears of a global health crisis have been escalating since the World Health Organisation (WHO) alerted the world to an alarming increase in the number of cases of (...)
Hala Sakr joins those working towards breaking the code of silence that has shrouded the sufferers of epilepsy for hundreds of years
My first encounter with epilepsy took place when I was 20 years old. Back then, I was a young medical student at (...)
Armed conflicts have exacerbated the health situation across the region. Hala Sakr investigates the relationship between health and war and highlights the problems created by the US use of depleted uranium in Iraq, and interviews the WHO chief
Click (...)
Few parts of the Revolution's programme have been as much criticised as its economic development policies. Socialist economist, former economic advisor to Nasser and minister of planning under Sadat Ismail Sabry Abdalla defends the Revolution's (...)
Profit, addiction and the national drive towards better health. Hala Sakr investigates the dynamics inherent in the passing of Egypt's latest tobacco control law this week
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The campaign against smoking scored this week when the (...)
Israeli historian Ilan Pappe faces expulsion from Haifa University for supporting Palestinian rights, Hala Sakr reports
When Israeli historian Ilan Pappe's name popped up on Al-Ahram Weekly's e-mail last Sunday, the initial reaction was to assume (...)
The World Health Organisation has announced that "physical movement" will be the theme of World Health Day this year, to the fury of many third-world doctors. Hala Sakr takes the temperature of the argument
Conflict and war continue to take hold in (...)
Will mental health finally get the attention it deserves? Hala Sakr reviews this year's World Health Report
For the first time in its history, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has dedicated both World Health Day, on 7 April 2001, and its annual (...)
Women unable to pass on Egyptian nationality to their children or obtain ID cards have alerted policy-makers to their plight, Hala Sakr reports
Soheir testifying with little Nagwa by her side
The suffering of Egyptian women related to the issues of (...)
With a glut of doctors and the dream of universal health care coverage, why are so many people left to fend for themselves? Hala Sakr sizes up the task of health care reform
(top) on the operating table: does the health system have a chance?; (left) (...)