The Parliament’s Health Committee is studying a draft law proposing an independent body to supervise the tenders put up by the Ministry of Health, according to committee member Ahmed Al-Aragawi.
Al-Aragawi said, in a special statement to Daily News Egypt, that the body under study will be responsible for supervising the tenders related to hospitals’ construction works, renewal and replacement operations, medicines, and ambulance cars. The aim of the proposal price and offer better services to Egyptian citizens.
The Health Committee is waiting for the government to refer the integrated health insurance law to the parliament to study it. He said the Health Insurance Law will be among the committee’s and parliament’s priorities in the current period.
Al-Aragawi said the committee will demand increasing the share allocated to the health sector in the budget to over 3% of the national income annually, in light of the difficulties and problems the Egyptian health sector since 20 years ago. The aim is to allocate over 15% of the national income to the health sector.
The Ministry of Health’s budget in the current fiscal year (FY) 2015/2016 is EGP 45bn compared to EGP 42.5bn in FY 2014/2015. He said the ministry’s allocations in the current period are insufficient to provide good health services to the citizens.
“Over the past five years, the concern was focused on the treatment aspect, not giving enough concern to the prevention aspect. In addition, salaries eat up the majority of health sector’s allocations, which makes citizens not find high-quality health services in public hospitals,” Al-Aragawi said.
“We cannot discuss reforming the Egyptian health sector without increasing its allocations,” director of the health programme in the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights Alaa Ghannam said, noting that the current budget is inadequate.
