The Ministry of Health and Population has issued about 3.2 million treatment decisions at a total cost of over EGP 19.2bn in the first 10 months of the year. Hossam Abdel Ghaffar, the official spokesperson for the Ministry of Health and Population, explained that the number of beneficiaries of the treatment decisions issued at the state's expense amounted to 2.1 million citizens. He noted that the treatment decisions issued included the following specialties: blood diseases, tumors, surgery, gynecology, internal medicine, nose and ear, urinary tract, and bones, in addition to skin and neurological diseases. According to Abdel Ghaffar, 5,672 people underwent video conference examinations as a result of Khaled Abdel Ghaffar, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Health and Population, who issued directives to streamline procedures so patients could receive medical and treatment services at the state's expense without having to travel to the headquarters of specialized medical councils or endure any hardship. Peter Wagih, Director of the Therapeutic Medicine Sector, pointed out that the procedures for issuing decisions for treatment at the state's expense begin with going to the nearest hospital and conducting medical examinations to diagnose the case in preparation for issuing the report of the tripartite committee. After that, the hospital registers the patient's data on the electronic network of the specialized medical councils, including a copy of the personal ID card, the report of the tripartite committee, and recent medical reports and examinations. Wagih emphasized that the citizen faces no hardship, as the main center of the specialized medical councils electronically approves the request for treatment at the state's expense, notifying the patient via a short message on his mobile phone. The condition for obtaining treatment at the state's expense is that the patient is not a beneficiary of the health insurance system. For his part, Mohamed Zidan, the Director General of Therapeutic Medicine and Director of Specialized Medical Councils, reported that 325,521 citizens underwent medical examinations as part of the governance and improvement of the integrated services card system. This aims to quickly identify cases of persons with disabilities within the medical examination procedures to obtain the integrated services card. In addition to interviewing and medically examining 135,607 citizens seeking cars equipped for people with special needs and exempt from taxes and customs duties, Zidan also reviewed and signed the medical examinations of 239,893 citizens seeking Takaful and Karama cash support.
