Higher Education Minister and Acting Health Minister Khaled Abdel Ghaffar said on Monday that the Egyptian state has given high priority to the issue of climate change and its impact on the health of citizens.

In a press release issued by the Health and Population Ministry, Abdel Ghaffar stressed the importance of boosting the efficiency of the health sector and improving the quality of health services to face the challenges of climate change.

He added that the Egyptian government studied all available capabilities and resources to formulate the national climate change strategy, which will focus on preserving the capabilities of the country and achieving development through national projects, atop of which is the presidential Decent Life initiative.

The minister shed light on the campaigns launched for the early detection of chronic diseases and other health issues, such as supporting women’s health, early detection of anemia, obesity and genetic diseases of newborns, and treatment of weakness and hearing loss among newborns.

Abdel Ghaffar pointed out that his ministry is working on designing models for adaptation to the impacts of climate change, evaluating the available capabilities, and reviewing the health file within the national climate change strategy.

The minister said that Egypt has always been keen on strengthening the role it plays in supporting other African countries to deal with environmental issues.

Abdel Ghaffar referred to a call made by President Abdel Fattah El Sisi during the opening of the biological diversity conference in 2018 to link the topics of climate change, biological diversity and combating desertification and water scarcity.

The minister shed light on a request made by Egypt to host the COP-27 conference in November 2022, which he said will be a good opportunity to follow up on the issue of climate change.

Source: State Information Service Egypt