Dr. Khaled Abdel Ghaffar, Minister of Health and Population, revealed details of the package of targets announced by Dr. Mostafa Madbouly, Prime Minister, to develop the healthcare sector. The package represents an integrated vision that includes investing in healthcare providers and establishing pathways to ensure that patients receive medical services at the appropriate time.
Dr. Hossam Abdel Ghaffar, the official spokesperson for the Ministry of Health and Population, explained that the package includes increasing the average incentive payments for healthcare workers by at least 50% by the end of the 2029/2030 fiscal year. The increase will be implemented gradually to ensure sustainability as a permanent item in the state budget. This builds on the monthly increase of EGP 750 approved last July for healthcare workers, in addition to raising on-call allowances by 25% and increasing compensation provided by the Medical Professions Risk Fund by 50%.
The spokesperson added that the package includes increasing financial allocations to eliminate waiting lists for critical cases. He explained that the additional funding will cover government hospitals, hospitals affiliated with the General Authority for Healthcare, and those affiliated with the Health Insurance Organization. This will ensure that the timing of surgical interventions is determined solely on medical grounds.
He also noted that the package includes adding 1,000 fully equipped ambulances to the ambulance system to serve expanding urban areas, new cities and communities, and newly developed road networks, thereby improving emergency response capabilities.
He further stated that the package includes launching the President of the Republic’s initiative for the early detection of childhood cancer across all governorates. The initiative will be implemented in three phases, beginning in January 2027, following a pilot phase that will continue until the end of this year. The estimated cost is approximately EGP 1 billion.
The spokesperson noted that the initiative targets all children and adolescents from birth to the age of 18 through an integrated pathway beginning at primary healthcare units and school clinics and extending to pediatric oncology centers.
The first phase will focus on six major types of cancer identified by the World Health Organization: acute lymphoblastic leukemia, Hodgkin lymphoma, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, Wilms tumor of the kidney, low-grade glioma, and retinoblastoma of the eye. The initiative aims to reduce diagnostic time by at least 20%.
He continued that the targets include expanding bed capacity at existing university hospitals and beginning the official opening of new public and private university hospitals starting in 2027. These efforts will complement the Ministry of Health’s current plans to bring 14 new hospitals into service within a year, with a total capacity of 2,027 beds. Most of these hospitals will be located in Upper Egypt and border governorates, alongside accelerating the completion of the second phase of the Universal Health Insurance System in the remaining governorates.
Dr. Hossam Abdel Ghaffar emphasized that these targets reflect the state's recognition that quality healthcare begins with ensuring the stability of doctors and nurses and is completed by enabling patients to access services without delay.
He stressed that the Ministry of Health and Population will announce implementation details and achievement indicators for each phase in succession, allowing citizens to monitor the real-world impact of these measures.
🖋️Source: The National Media Authority online portal
