CAIRO - Diseases, which poor people suffer from, such as tuberculosis and renal failure, are becoming more widespread, especially in rural areas. What makes things worse is that Egypt's hospitals and medical centres are going downhill, spreading infections instead of curing people. The head of Al-Wafd Party in Benha, north of Cairo, Tareq el-Dib, wonders how long the problem will continue. “Officials from the Ministry of Health must inspect every hospital in the country, so they can see for themselves how bad conditions there are,” he says. In Benha Health Insurance Hospital, there are piles of rubbish everywhere and the medical service is abysmal, although it's very close to the headquarters of the Health Directorate and the office of the First Undersecretary at the Ministry of Health, complain residents. Sami Abdel-Wahab, who works at Benha Local Council, is also critical of this hospital, regretting that the construction of a new building in the hospital was halted, when the price of building materials went up. The hospital vitally needs this new building, because the existing building is too small, which means many patients have to be transferred to other hospitals. As for Benha Teaching Hospital, Ali Megahed, a member of the Local Council, says that the services it offers are of a very low standard, while the lifts don't work and the CT scanner is intentionally not used. This hospital also lacks a furnace for burning medical waste, according to Megahed. Not so long ago, Qaliub was a small village, but now it's a city with a population of 1 million. Surprisingly, it only has one hospital; unsurprisingly, it is of a very poor standard. In nearby Shubra el-Kheima, there are, according to Tamer Bassiouni, a member of the Local Council, similar problems. He told the opposition Al-Wafd newspaper that the hospitals there did not have any furnaces, so their medical waste has to be taken to the furnace at Shebin al-Qanater Hospital to be burnt,” he added. “There are no doctors in these hospitals; the nurses have to prescribe medication and write medical reports on their behalf,” he said. Ahmed Badrawi, a member of the Local Council of the area, describes Shebin al-Qanater Hospital as abysmal. “The dialysis department has virtually stopped operating, due a shortage of equipment. What makes it worse is that the number of renal failure cases is on the increase,” he says. A report issued by Benha University, a public institution, says that many people living in the village of Kafr Saad, Benha, have tuberculosis. Curiously, the report 'disappeared' before it could reach senior officials in the Ministry of Health.
