Chairperson of the Egypt Healthcare Authority, General Supervisor of the Comprehensive Health Insurance and Decent Life projects at the Ministry of Health and Population, Ahmed El-Sobky, announced that the healthcare infrastructure in the governorates of the first phase of the Comprehensive Health Insurance System amounted to more than EGP 34bn. He indicated that the cost of the comprehensive health insurance project in the governorates of the first phase exceeded EGP 53bn. This coincided with the passage of 4 years since the launch of the trial operation of the comprehensive health insurance system from Port Said governorate, in early July 2019. El-Sobky noted that the first phase of the comprehensive health insurance system will include more than 350 facilities, including medical complexes, hospitals, centres and family medicine units, through which health services will be provided at its three levels, "primary, secondary, and tertiary" for citizens in the governorates of "Port Said, Luxor, Ismailia, South Sinai, Aswan, and Suez. He pointed out that the first phase includes the development of more than 50 hospitals and more than 300 family medicine centres and units in six governorates. El-Sobky added that the plans for the development and modernization of health facilities to join the work under the umbrella of the comprehensive health insurance system came to expand the health services provided in hospitals, family medicine centres and units and achieve the goals of the system. According to the EHA chairperson, the system's focus is on developing family medicine centres and units and equipping them with medical devices and equipment to provide primary health care in a way that relieves pressure on secondary and tertiary health care in hospitals and enhances their ability to provide service with the highest efficiency and quality. He further stressed that Egypt has a strong health system, stressing that the system has developed infrastructure and the best capabilities that enhance the readiness of the healthcare sector with facilities that are among the most modern and best in the world, highly qualified cadres, and highly developed technologies. El-Sobky also said that the completion of the comprehensive health insurance project and its extension to the rest of the governorates is a top priority for the state.
