CAIRO - The Military Police (MP) will be in-charge of securing the nation's health facilities, which have been the target of looters and thugs since January 25, the Minister of Health, Dr Ashraf Hatem, said. "MP units and personnel will be deployed around the Ministry's hospitals, poly-clinics, health units and medical centres," Dr Hatem said. He added that the move came after looters and criminal elements broke into the emergency wards, in-patient and out-patient clinics of the main three hospitals of el-Demirdash, Abul Reesh and el-Mattariya earlier in the week. Dr Hatem said that the Ministry had delivered a list of the health facilities at the provincial level to the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF), which agreed to dispatch military police units and personnel to protect them. He said that medical equipment at several health facilities went missing and many medical staff members were attacked when outlaws broke into them. "Thieves and thugs also broke into three Cairo hospitals within the span of a few days and taking, or smashing hundreds of equipment," Dr Hatem said, adding that the police could not retrieve the stolen items . "The Military Police are now protecting the health facilities everywhere so that the patients and the medical staff members feel secure now."
