CAIRO - The doctors and other officials in the Ministry of Health have agreed to increase the budget for free medical treatment by LE500 million, as patients now have to buy the medicines they need because public-sector hospitals are so short of money. Minister of Health Dr Fouad el-Nawawi says that he has agreed with the Ministry of Finance to spend LE500 million on free medical treatment in these hospitals, in addition to the LE350 million taken from the State budget. The Minister adds that the extra money will be spent on improving medical services and providing free medicines for the poor. He also adds that an additional LE70 million will be provided for medical. Hisham Sheha, the head of the Medical Treatment Sector at the Ministry of Health, said that a tripartite committee has been formed to distribute the money to the hospitals, according to the number of patients and the number of operations they perform. He stressed that the committee would carefully monitor how the cash is spent, so it doesn't just end up in people's pockets. Sheha explained that the original LE350 million allocated for free medical treatment was very little, considering that it had to be distributed among 500 hospitals. Free medical care has deteriorated. Some departments are suffering from a lack of equipment used in intensive care units and for kidney dialysis, as well as incubators. LE70 million will be spent on these departments. "LE2 billion is spent every year on treatment at State expense. It is vital that costly treatment be provided for free for poor patients. This sum of LE2 billion must increase to LE5 billion within two fiscal years, if we're going to offer adequate services to the poor," Sheha told the weekly October magazine. The Director of Boulaq el-Dakrour Public Hospital, Dr Sayyed Ghazla, stresses that the extra money will help improve the treatment for the poor. They won't be able to complain anymore, since the hospitals will be provided with all the medicines and medical equipment they need. "My hospital's budget is only LE5 million per annum and I need twice that in order treat the poor patients and buy the medical equipment needed in intensive care. "Around 2,500 patients come to the hospital daily and we perform more than 1,000 operations monthly. We treated some of those injured in the Imbaba and Israeli Embassy incidents," Dr Ghazla explains. Dr Mohamed Shawqi, the Director of Mounira Public Hospital, says his hospital needs an additional LE3 million per annum, as they need LE7 million to treat poor patients. "My hospital has 312 beds and we perform about 700 operations monthly, while 40,000 people use our outpatients' clinics every month. We definitely need more medicines and equipment," he explains.
