Hundreds of thousands of low-income Egyptians are being denied vital healthcare because of a financial dispute between the government and hospitals, a U.N. news agency reported on Monday
The news comes as the country’s health minister on Monday pledged to make the poor a priority in the new health insurance law being drawn up.
Hospitals are refusing to treat patients sent by the Health Ministry after it stopped paying treatment cost in December, said IRIN, part of the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
The Health Ministry claims it does not have the money to pay the bills, which total some $219 million, according to the news agency.
The ministry is supposed to provide free healthcare to millions of Egyptians outside the state health insurance system, IRIN said.
The ministry last year gave free treatment to 2.2 million people, including around 25,000 cancer patients and 35,000 kidney failure patients, it added.
Those seeking free treatment must obtain a letter from the ministry authorising public hospitals to treat them for free. Hospitals then reclaim payment from the ministry, according to IRIN.
“This is a problem of money,” Mohamed Abdeen, chairman of the Specialised Medical Councils, the Health Ministry body that approves free patient treatment.
“The hospitals can’t do anything else. If they don’t get money, they won’t be able to offer treatment or medicine for these people.”
The news comes as Health Minister Hatem el-Gabali on Monday pledged to make the country’s poor a priority in the new health insurance draft law being draw up, Daily News Egypt reported.
Health Minister Hatem el-Gabali on Monday told a conference “low-income citizens will be highly considered” under the health insurance law, Daily News Egypt reported, citing a ministry statement.
The newspaper said “those who cannot afford to pay health insurance will be exempt from the annual fees and will also be given the medicine free of charge”.
