Egypt is keen to support the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention initiative, which aims to establish a continental platform for dialogue on mechanisms for innovative financing of the health sector in Africa, Minister of Finance Mohamed Maait said Sunday in a statement.
Minister Maait made his statements during a meeting in Cairo with Jean Kaseya, director general of Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC).
This platform will include African ministers of finance and health, private sector representatives, and experts.
Maait also highlighted the readiness of the Egyptian Ministry of Finance to provide the necessary technical support to the Africa CDC, “which will contribute to its expected role at the continental level.”
The minister, who serves as the chairman of the General Authority for Universal Health Insurance, also expressed Egypt’s willingness to provide the necessary support in formulating the basic working system of the African Epidemic Response Fund through it
s membership in the Committee of the Fifteen African Union Ministers of Finance.
Meanwhile, Kaseya stated that the Africa CDC looks forward to making the maximum use of the Egyptian experience in Universal Health Insurance in developing African health systems and reducing the risks resulting from diseases and epidemics, within the framework of mobilizing efforts on the continental level to strengthen African health systems.
Egypt’s Universal Healthcare System, launched in 2021, aims at eliminating waiting lists for patients who need critical surgeries and medical interventions within six months and uplifting the quality of healthcare services.
During the meeting, Maait expressed Egypt’s keenness to help enhance the financial sustainability of African health systems to maximize their ability to sustainably provide health services, taking into account the importance of the private sector’s role in financing these systems and partnership to combat epidemics and diseases, the statement added.
The Minister als
o stressed that despite all internal and external economic challenges, Egypt seeks to build a strong system for universal health insurance and gradually extend its umbrella to different governorates.
“Our experience is based on ensuring the financial sustainability of the system, making it more capable of developing its resources to provide comprehensive health coverage for all families,” he affirmed.
Furthermore, he noted that the private sector is an essential partner in the success of the Egyptian model.
Egypt aspires to increase the private medical sector’s participation in providing Universal Health Insurance services from 30 percent to 50 percent and enhance competitiveness among service providers, which is the greatest guarantee for sustaining health care quality for beneficiaries.
Source: State Information Service Egypt