Egypt’s Minister of Health and Population Khaled Abdel Ghaffar and Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research Ayman Ashour witnessed on Monday evening the signing of a cooperation protocol between the Preventive Medicine Sector at the health ministry and the Science, Technology, and Innovation Funding Authority.
The protocol was signed by Amr Kandil, Head of the Preventive Medicine Sector at the Health Ministry, and Walaa Sheta, CEO of the Science, Technology, and Innovation Funding Authority.
During the ceremony, Abdel Ghaffar stressed the importance of cooperation between the two ministries in supporting scientific research in the medical field and benefiting from the huge database and information owned by the health ministry, praising the continuous and fruitful cooperation between the two ministries in initiatives and projects aiming to improve medical services.
The minister also pointed out that scientific research and innovation are one of the most important technical pillars in achieving the One Health Strategy, explaining that the ministry is working in cooperation with all ministries and concerned authorities to that end.
For his part, Ashour stressed the importance of the protocol in supporting the health system, especially the preventive medicine sector, and achieving integration between universities and research centres affiliated with the ministry and the hospitals of the health ministry in monitoring and combating infectious, epidemic, and endemic diseases.
He pointed out that the vision of his ministry is based on employing scientific research to solve problems and serve the purposes and goals of sustainable development in order to achieve Egypt’s 2030 Vision, stressing that the coming period will witness more of these protocols in various sectors in the Egyptian state.
The protocol includes cooperation in many common areas, including launching initiatives and supporting research projects in the field of One Health and preparing programmes to be implemented through universities and research bodies in Egypt that have a direct return on the system for monitoring and controlling infectious, epidemic, and endemic diseases.
It also includes maximising the role of universities and research bodies to contribute to understanding the nature of these diseases, their properties, and detection mechanisms, and developing new methods of control and treatment.
