CAIRO, April 14 (MENA) - President Abdel Fattah el Sisi has called for taking measures to improve the conditions of medics, support their participation in modern training programs and benefit from artificial intelligence.

This came during a meeting the president held with Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouli and Deputy Prime Minister for Human Development and Minister of Health and Population Khaled Abdel Ghaffar.

The Spokesman for the Presidency Ambassador Mohamed El-Shennawy said President Sisi reviewed the work of the ministerial group for human development, which includes steps to implement the national human development project. These steps include increasing the number of nurseries for children under the age of six and establishing 300 integrated human development centers in various governorates, with the aim of enhancing cultural, educational, and athletic capabilities, as well as improving physical, psychological, and social health, and preparing future generations for the job market.

Abdel Ghaffar gave a detailed presentation on the National Population and Development Strategy, as part of Bedaya presidential initiative, which aims to improve demographic characteristics and reduce rates of dwarfism, obesity, and anemia among children. This is in addition to reviewing developments in the population growth file, where the average annual population growth rate decreased by approximately 1.34% in 2025, compared to 1.4% in 2024.

President Sisi was briefed on the national projects underway in the health sector in all governorates, which include the completion of the development and construction of 20 hospitals in 11 governorates during the fiscal year 2025 at an estimated cost of 11.7 billion Egyptian pounds, adding approximately 2,649 beds, including 458 intensive care beds, 442 incubators, and 1,749 inpatient beds, in addition to 542 kidney dialysis machines and 95 operating rooms.

The development and construction of 11 hospitals in 10 governorates have also been completed, including Al-Fayrouz Medical Complex in South Sinai Governorate, Tanta Hospital in Gharbia Governorate, Al-Adwa Hospital in Minya, Abou Tesht and Nag Hammadi Hospital in Qena Governorate, Manfalut Hospital in Assiut, Qantara East and Tal Al-Kabir Hospital in Ismailia, and Al- Sebaiya Hospital in Aswan. Current hospitals affiliated with the Ministry of Health and affiliate bodies have also been supplied with all medical equipment until the third quarter of the fiscal year 2024-2025.

The President was briefed on the implementation plan for the second phase of the comprehensive health insurance system. This phase includes the governorates of Damietta, Kafr El Sheikh, Minya, Matrouh, and North Sinai. It involves the development of 11 hospitals and the establishment of 19 new hospitals, bringing the total number of hospitals to 65 with a bed capacity of 10,517. In addition, 534 primary care units and centers will be established, increasing the total number of these facilities to 669, at an estimated cost of 115 billion Egyptian pounds, including both medical and non-medical equipment. President Sisi gave directives to expedite the completion of the second phase, with strict adherence to the established implementation schedules. The President also stressed the need to uphold the highest standards of quality throughout the execution process.

The Minister of Health outlined the steps undertaken for the development of an integrated digital health system in line with Egypt's Vision 2030. This aims to improve the quality of healthcare, facilitate access to services, and enhance operational efficiency. The plan includes establishing electronic health records; implementing Artificial Intelligence, AI, technologies; creating a national platform for health information exchange; and increase international partnerships to ensure the sustainability of the digital transformation. President El-Sisi directed the government to study the possibility of including AI as a mandatory subject in the educational curricula.

The President was offered an overview on the presidential initiatives focused on enhancing public health for citizens, targeting age groups from birth to 5 years, from 5 to 15 years, and from 18 to 65 years. These 15 presidential public health initiatives have provided over 234 million health services through 3,527 health units. President El-Sisi was also updated on the initiative to eliminate patient waiting lists, which has facilitated the treatment of 2,690,000 citizens since its launch in July 2018, at a total cost of 24.746 billion Egyptian pounds. This is in addition to the treatment of 2.1 million citizens at state expense during the year 2025, with a total cost of 23.2 billion Egyptian pounds.

The President also reviewed the state's efforts toward the localization of the pharmaceutical and medical device industries. He underscored the importance of providing the necessary facilitations to attract investments to this vital sector, thus contribute to fulfilling the needs of the domestic market and increasing Egyptian exports to global markets. President Sisi directed that measures be taken to improve the conditions of healthcare workers, enhance their participation in modern training programs, and leverage AI applications in this field. (MENA)
M O H/R G E