CAIRO: The World Bank’s decision to invest $530 million in a project to improve Egyptian health care has been welcomed as a vital boost to a new health insurance system.
The money will go toward a five-year project being implemented by the Ministry of Health and Population and will be an integral component of Egypt’s ambitious health reforms, the World Bank said.
Some $35 million will be dedicated to a program to prevent Hepatitis C and support a new universal health care insurance system.
This mandatory insurance system follows a sharp increase in medication prices over the last two years.
Dr. Ali Hijazi, the assistant minister of health, recently revealed that Egyptians pay more than 60 percent of their own health costs.
The insurance scheme, to be introduced from 2018-2032, has proved controversial. The law will require all Egyptian residents, including employers, expatriates and casual workers to make mandatory monthly payments of between 1 and 4 percent of their income.
In addition, the family breadwinner will be responsible for paying monthly contributions for family members, including unemployed spouses and all children.
Dr. Ali Mehrez, head of the Central Administration of Medical Licenses in the Health Ministry, told Arab News that only 57 percent of Egyptians currently have medical insurance.
He said it was necessary to ensure the quality of health services while maintaining the costs were “commensurate with the public and not excessive.”
“This new health insurance law aims to expand coverage and strengthen the local health care market, which will increase the demand for health care services again,” he added.
Egypt’s health care sector is lagging behind other countries in the region, both in quality of service and the number of people receiving treatment.
The authorities are preparing to cope with increasing demand for health care services, particularly in the densely populated urban areas of Giza, Cairo and 6th of October City.
Egypt’s health care system is also under pressure due to high levels of poverty and modern lifestyle conditions such as diabetes.
Medication shortages are also a problem. In 2013, more than 600 medicines became unavailable to patients after pharmaceutical companies and the Health Ministry failed to agree on pricing.
“The solution to the health problem in Egypt lies in the rapid implementation of the comprehensive health insurance system,” said Abdel Hamid Sheikh, a member of Parliament’s Health Committee.
He said that the new system would “achieve results and deliver services to the ordinary patient, and provide support and treatment at the expense of the state to needy patients only.”
Egypt has a diverse health system that includes many public and private health care providers.
Public hospitals are affordable, but usually overcrowded and dirty. Private hospitals are expensive but provide good services.
“The adoption of the comprehensive social health insurance law is a major achievement, but the biggest achievement is that we expect it to start this month,” said Dr. Abdelhamid Abaza, a former assistant health minister. “This project is the basis of health reform in Egypt.”
World Bank aid vital boost to Egypt’s new health insurance system
World Bank aid vital boost to Egypt’s new health insurance system
- Some $35 million will be dedicated to a program to prevent Hepatitis C
- The money will go toward a five-year project being implemented by the Ministry of Health and Population
US says Houthis targeted Gulf of Aden with four drones and missiles
- The Yemeni militia launched 3 drones on Monday and an anti-ship ballistic missile on Tuesday; no ships were hit
- Meanwhile, journalism organizations call on the Houthis to investigate attempted assassination of a Yemeni journalist on Tuesday
AL-MUKALLA: The US Central Command said the Houthi militia in Yemen launched three drones and one anti-ship ballistic missile at international commercial and naval ships in the Gulf of Aden on Monday and Tuesday.
The group launched three unmanned aerial vehicles from Yemen toward the Gulf of Aden on Monday. One of the drones was destroyed by US-led marine coalition ships, Central Command forces destroyed another, and the third went down in the sea, causing no damage, the US military said.
Early on Tuesday, the Houthis launched an anti-ship ballistic missile over the Gulf of Aden, but did not target navy or commercial ships in key maritime lanes near Yemen.
“It was determined that these weapons presented an imminent threat to both coalition forces and merchant vessels in the region,” the US Central Command said.
UK Maritime Trade Operations, which monitors attacks on vessels, received a report from a ship's master on Tuesday of two explosions close to the vessel off the coast of Yemen, near the southern city of Aden.
Yahya Sarea, a Houthi military spokesman who regularly confirms assaults on ships, has not claimed responsibility on behalf of the militia for any strikes since Friday.
In the past six months, the Houthis have sunk one ship, seized another and launched hundreds of ballistic missiles, drones and remotely controlled boats targeting international commercial and navy ships in waters off the coast of Yemen and in the Indian Ocean. The Houthis say their aim is to put pressure on Israel to end its war against Hamas in Gaza.
The US responded in January to the Houthi attacks by placing the group back onto its list of foreign terrorist organizations, from which it had been removed in February 2021, organizing a coalition of naval task forces to safeguard the Red Sea, and launching strikes against Houthi sites in Yemen.
Mahdi Al-Mashat, head of the Houthi Supreme Political Council, said during a live-fire drill in Sanaa on Tuesday that the US had offered incentives to the group in return for halting their attacks on shipping. However, he vowed attacks on ships linked to Israel would continues, along with efforts to seize control of the parts of Yemen that remain under government control.
“We will continue … until our country’s whole national territory is liberated, and the blockade and injustice placed on our people in Gaza are removed,” he said.
Meanwhile, local and international journalism organizations urged the Houthis to investigate the attempted assassination of a Yemeni journalist in Sanaa on Tuesday.
The Yemeni Journalist Syndicate said that Mohammed Shubaita, secretary-general of the organization and assistant secretary-general of the Federation of Arab Journalists, was shot in the leg and stomach and is being treated at a hospital in Sanaa. A relative who was with him was killed in the attack and another was wounded.
“The Journalists Syndicate strongly condemns this sinful attack and holds the de facto authority in Sanaa fully responsible for the safety of our colleague Mohammed Shubaita,” the organization said.
The International Federation of Journalists similarly denounced the assault and urged the Houthis to investigate the incident.
Anthony Bellanger, the federation’s general secretary, said: “The authorities must immediately open an investigation to clarify the circumstances of the heinous attack against our colleague Mohammed Shubaita and his relatives.
“Yemen is a hostile country for journalists where their safety is jeopardized, and the investigation must take into account Shubaita’s role as a journalist and union leader.”
In a message posted on social media platform X, Reporters Without Borders condemned the attack and called for a “full investigation into this heinous crime.”
Intense fire on Lebanon front leaves casualties on both sides
- Ten airstrikes hit the forest area stretching from the outskirts of Aita Al-Shaab to those of Ramyah within a few hours
- Hezbollah resorts to unconventional weaponry in response to Israel’s scorched-earth tactics
BEIRUT: The Israeli army launched more than 20 airstrikes on Lebanese border towns on Wednesday, resulting in deaths and injuries.
Alarms blared in the settlements of Adamit, Goren, Eilon, and Arab Al-Aramsheh in Western Galilee and Israeli media reported: “Hezbollah is leading a major attack from southern Lebanon using missiles and drones, and sirens are continuously sounding.”
Israeli news sites said: “Injuries occurred among the Israelis in the north due to missile strikes carried out by Hezbollah on Avivim, and the situation is difficult. Seven soldiers in the Al-Malikiyah site were hit, several killed and others injured, in a combined operation involving a missile salvo and suicide drone attacks. Hezbollah’s attacks also targeted the settlement of Kiryat Shmona.”
One outlet said a reservist soldier had been killed, while others reported power outages in Avivim and Dovev as a result of Hezbollah shelling.
Israeli army spokesman Avichay Adraee confirmed: “Airstrikes were launched at Hezbollah-affiliated targets in six areas in southern Lebanon, and Israeli warplanes raided the party’s military buildings in Kfarkela, Aita Al-Shaab, Khiam, and Maroun Al-Ras.”
Ten airstrikes hit the forest area stretching from the outskirts of Aita Al-Shaab to those of Ramyah within a few hours. The raids continued on the towns of Yaroun, Jabal Blat, Kfarkela, the outskirts of Rihan, Aaramta and Khiam.
One house in Khiam was completely destroyed. Paramedics working to remove the rubble found three Hezbollah members had been killed and another injured.
Aitaroun and Blida were hit with phosphorus bombs, which are banned internationally, while artillery shelling was recorded on the outskirts of the towns of Naqoura, Halta, Kfarchouba and Jabal Blat.
Civil defense teams in the Kfarkela-Tal Nahas area worked to extinguish a fire caused by one of the airstrikes.
According to a security source, the Israeli military utilized “GBU bunker-buster bombs in the airstrikes on Kafr Kila, renowned for their effectiveness in penetrating fortified structures. These bombs, part of Israel’s arsenal since 2000, were reportedly replenished through intensified American shipments.”
In retaliation, Hezbollah launched operations against Israeli military sites, some with guided missiles, causing deaths and injuries among Israeli soldiers. Hezbollah said this was in response to enemy attacks on southern villages and civilian homes.
A building used by Israeli soldiers in the Metula settlement was targeted, along with two structures in the Shlomi settlement, one in Hanita, two in Avivim, and a building at the Al-Manara site.
Later, Hezbollah targeted Israeli soldiers at the Raheb site, causing direct damage. A statement from the organization said it simultaneously targeted and destroyed espionage equipment at the same location.
The source highlighted a significant uptick in military engagement between the Israeli army and Hezbollah over the past 48 hours, coinciding with Israel’s incursion into and seizure of the Rafah crossing.
Media reports said: “Hezbollah has resorted to unconventional weaponry against Israeli sites in response to Israel’s scorched-earth tactics along the border, making the area inhospitable due to extensive phosphorus contamination. The cleanup process, aiming to rid the region of the pollutants used by the Israeli military to devastate crops, groundwater and soil, is anticipated to span several years.”
Israeli positions adjacent to the Blue Line unleashed heavy machine gun fire on the outskirts of Rmeich and Ramyah, targeting water tanks and vital roads connecting border communities.
Hezbollah has tied a ceasefire along the southern front to a cessation of hostilities in the Gaza Strip.
Al-Azhar, Arab Parliament condemn Israeli incursion into Rafah
- Al-Azhar said the Israeli storming of the Rafah crossing was an attempt to invade the entire Palestinian city of Rafah and tighten the siege on the Gaza Strip
CAIRO: Al-Azhar Al-Sharif, Islam’s highest seat of learning, and the Arab Parliament have condemned in the strongest terms Israel’s actions in Rafah city in the Gaza Strip.
Israel on Tuesday sent tanks into Rafah in southern Gaza, seizing control of the border crossing with Egypt, an operation the UN said denied it access to the key humanitarian passage.
Al-Azhar said in a statement that the storming of the Rafah crossing by the tanks of the “terrorist Zionist entity” was an attempt to invade the entire Palestinian city of Rafah, tighten the siege on the Gaza Strip, and completely isolate it by shutting its last outlet to the outside world.
It called the Israeli action “a full-fledged war crime committed in full view of the entire world” and an addition to the series of “brutal crimes being committed by the occupying entity for more than 200 consecutive days.”
Al-Azhar said these “inhumane criminal attempts come within a series of recent escalations by the terrorist Zionist entity in the city of Rafah, which is the last refuge for Palestinian civilians.”
The institution said that this “portends the commission of new massacres and the fall of more innocent martyrs, in light of international silence and unprecedented impotence, which cannot be explained or justified.”
Al-Azhar said: “Our world is governed by a double standard and laws of the jungle, with the strong preying on the weak.”
It called on the international community, concerned international organizations, and all active parties to live up to their responsibilities in the face of the brutal massacres committed by the “Zionist entity” against Palestinians in Gaza, to intervene immediately to stop these “daily crimes” and to “make every effort to lift the siege on the strip completely and stop the Zionist plans.”
These plans, Al-Azhar said, aim at unscrupulously suffocating, starving and imprisoning 2 million innocent civilians, including women, children, the elderly, and the sick.
By capturing the Rafah crossing, Israel gained full control over the entry and exit of people and goods for the first time since it withdrew soldiers and settlers from Gaza in 2005, although it has long maintained a blockade of the coastal enclave in cooperation with Egypt.
The Arab Parliament, meanwhile, called Israel’s move “a dangerous escalation that undermines the efforts made to reach a ceasefire and spare the blood of Palestinian civilians who have been subjected to an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe since the start of the brutal aggression against the Gaza Strip.”
It called the Israeli incursion “a death sentence for the wounded and sick in light of the collapse of the health system in the Gaza Strip.”
The Arab Parliament stressed that the developments taking place in the occupied Palestinian territories, including Rafah, and Israel’s intention to thwart efforts to reach a ceasefire are a clear embodiment of the “law of the jungle.”
It is, the organization said, a “blatant violation of all international norms, laws, and resolutions, which will lead the world into a dark tunnel and portend a new catastrophe that will end the remaining relief attempts and lead to complete genocide and forced displacement of millions of Palestinians.”
The Arab Parliament called on the international community, free countries, the UN Security Council, and the US administration to put more pressure than ever on the occupying entity to avoid further escalation and to force it to reach a sustainable truce and an immediate and permanent ceasefire.
The group praised the decision of the Bahamas to recognize the state of Palestine, stressing that it is “a new victory for the Palestinian cause and Palestinian diplomacy, especially since it comes at a time when the occupying entity’s plans to liquidate the Palestinian cause are exposed.”
South Gaza hospitals have only three days’ fuel left: WHO
- Despite international objections, Israel sent tanks into the overcrowded southern city of Rafah on Tuesday and seized the nearby crossing into Egypt
- “Hospitals in the south of Gaza only have three days of fuel left, which means services may soon come to a halt,” WHO chief said
GENEVA: Hospitals in the southern Gaza Strip have only three days of fuel left, the head of the World Health Organization said Wednesday, due to closed border crossings.
Despite international objections, Israel sent tanks into the overcrowded southern city of Rafah on Tuesday and seized the nearby crossing into Egypt that is the main conduit for aid into the besieged Palestinian territory.
“The closure of the border crossing continues to prevent the UN from bringing fuel. Without fuel all humanitarian operations will stop. Border closures are also impeding delivery of humanitarian aid into Gaza,” WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on X, formerly Twitter.
“Hospitals in the south of Gaza only have three days of fuel left, which means services may soon come to a halt.”
Tedros said Al-Najjar, one of the three hospitals in Rafah, was no longer functioning due to the ongoing hostilities in the vicinity and the military operation in Rafah.
“At a time when fragile humanitarian operations urgently require expansion, the Rafah military operation is further limiting our ability to reach thousands of people who have been living in dire conditions without adequate food, sanitation, health services and security,” he said.
“This must stop now.”
The Geneva-based WHO is the UN’s health agency.
Israel bombarded Rafah on Wednesday as talks resumed in Cairo aimed at agreeing the terms of a truce in the seven-month war.
Gaza’s bloodiest-ever war began following Hamas’s unprecedented October 7 attack on Israel that resulted in the deaths of more than 1,170 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.
Vowing to destroy Hamas, Israel has conducted a retaliatory offensive that has killed more than 34,800 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry.
Egypt police probe murder of Israeli-Canadian businessman
- Security sources made no link between the shooting and the dead man’s ethnic background
CAIRO: Egypt’s interior ministry said it had launched an investigation Wednesday after an Israeli-Canadian businessman was shot dead in the coastal city of Alexandria.
A police statement said the man, “a permanent resident of the country” was shot dead on Tuesday.
The Israeli foreign ministry said the murdered man was a businessman with dual Canadian-Israeli citizenship.
“He had a business in Egypt. The Israeli embassy in Cairo is in contact with the Egyptian authorities, who are investigating the circumstances of the case,” the ministry said.
Attacks on Israelis in Egypt are rare but not unprecedented.
On October 8, the day after Hamas attacked Israel triggering war in Gaza, an Egyptian policeman shot dead two Israeli tourists and their Egyptian guide.
Following their deaths, Israeli authorities advised its nationals in Egypt to leave “as soon as possible.”
Egypt was the first Arab country to sign a peace treaty with Israel but relations between the two peoples have never been warm.
The Egyptian government has often acted as mediator in flare-ups in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that have threatened to stir up passions on the street.
