Egypt is Taking a Leap Towards Better Healthcare
The healthcare sector in Egypt has devoted remarkable efforts to adjust to the most recent Covid-19 Outbreak. Evidently, demand has increased for medical services and supplies causing a potential obstruction to the industry’s ability to cope with the crisis. On that account, the Egyptian government has taken steps towards increasing the budget allocated for healthcare during the 2020-2021 fiscal periods.
Fortunately, Egypt has managed to work through several pandemic related challenges by implementing new practices and expanding its healthcare industry. With a focus on medical services and innovative equipment, Egypt’s medical device market has it positioned as the second largest in the Middle East region. Medical devices have recorded sales of USD 20 million in 2018.
Being a country with a large healthcare sector has allowed Egypt to create vast opportunities, not only for itself, but also for an abundance of countries worldwide. The sector has witnessed some reforms introducing a National Health Insurance Program. The World Health Organization (WHO) aided those efforts by launching a US$530 million project to support Egypt’s improvement prospects, with a focus on supporting the Hepatitis C program, diversifying family planning services along with supporting the National Insurance system. The project also entails a digital transformation of Egyptian healthcare by implementing a network and a database for medical records, trade.gov explained.
The project’s objectives also include the improvement of 600 primary facilities, 27 hospitals and expansion the community health worker program, along with Hepatitis C screenings for approximately 35 million people, and the treatment of 1.5 million. Egypt is also working tirelessly on another mega project, that is constructing a massive medical city in the New Administrative Capital.
The World Bank currently is working towards the implementation of 16 different social development projects with an allocated capital of US$6.69 billion. According to the World Bank, only a small fraction of total investments have been allocated towards the advancement of healthcare services. However, the figures support the narrative that the medical sector is ripe for significant growth.
In accordance with the efforts devoted to the advancement of the healthcare system, several long-term opportunities have been identified highlighting the following services:
- Lab and Medical Equipment
- Hospital rehabilitation in urban and rural areas
- Emergency services and care
- Implementation of training programs for medical staff
- Constructing advanced biological and laboratory centers
- Development and implementation of high quality standards for healthcare institutions