Health Minister Dr Maha Al-Rabat announced that the application of the first phase of a law regulating the work of medical professionals in the government will begin in January. The Health Minister said on Saturday that the [draft] law will be presented to the cabinet for approval within the next few days. She added that the new law – which will be applied in stages until July 2016 – will benefit 464,000 physicians, dentists, veterinarians, pharmacists, physiotherapists, nurses, science graduates including chemists, physicists, technical nursing staff, medical technicians, and health professionals. Al-Rabat confirmed that the law will serve to improve the income of workers in the government's health care sector, pointing out that the law states that an extra allowance for those being paid a risk allowance will be effectively paid EGP 120 per month starting 1 January 2014. The sum will rise incrementally and reach EGP 200 by 1 July 2016. The draft law also stipulates that resident doctors in hospitals and health care units have the right to demand financial reimbursement in exchange for working night shifts. It also increases the rates of incentives set for non-residents who work in hospitals and health care units in the country's remote and border governorates at rates ranging between 200% to 600%. Regarding the incentives for the cadre of employees in the medical field, the Minister of Health said that it will reach 450% of a physician's basic salary, 410% for dentists, 370% for each of pharmacists, physiotherapists, veterinarians and nurses, 340% for chemists and physicists, and 320% for nursing staff and medical technicians. Al-Rabat stressed the government's increasing interest in improving and developing the health care sector and supporting its workers to reflect real improvement in the services provided. The minister said she considers the adoption of the new law to be an initial positive step towards realising the hopes of the medical field's workers.
