100 million health care… a national investment that achieves economic returns and expands the scope of health care

For years, Egypt has continued to strengthen its efforts in supporting public health and developing the health care system, by adopting programs and initiatives aimed at enhancing disease prevention, supporting early detection, and expanding the availability of medical services to various segments of society.

These efforts come within the framework of a broader vision that places citizen health among development priorities, as a basic building block for building a society more capable of working, producing, and improving the quality of life.

Over the past years, the Egyptian health system has witnessed an expansion in initiatives and programs directed to various health needs, with a focus on reaching services to the largest possible number of citizens, and reducingDisease-related burdens on individuals and families. The effects of these efforts extend to economic and social dimensions related to reducing the costs of illness and preserving individuals’ ability to participate in the labor market and production.

Health initiatives targeting prevention and early detection

In light of these efforts, Dr. Khaled Abdel Ghaffar, Minister of Health and Population, announced the provision of 289,359,000 medical services to millions of citizens through presidential public health initiatives since the launch of the first initiative in 2018 under the slogan “100 Million Health,” stressing that the system, which so far includes 16 initiatives, has provided screening, early detection, and free treatment services for various age groups and all segments of society; Which contributed to early detection of diseases, rapid intervention and improvement of quality of life, which is considered an investment in the health of citizens, whose impact extends to the family, society and the national economy, throughReducing the cost of disease, increasing production capacity.

In the same context, Dr. Hossam Abdel Ghaffar, the Ministry’s official spokesman, explained that the initiatives began with the initiative to eliminate Hepatitis C and early detection of non-communicable diseases, which examined more than 60 million citizens and provided free treatment, and then extended to include more than 71.8 million examinations for primary school students to detect malnutrition (anaemia, obesity, and stunting).

All of these efforts are consistent with the third goal of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), related to good health and well-being, by expanding the scope of prevention and early detection services and providing treatment, in a way that supports improving the health of citizens and reducing the repercussions of diseases on individuals and families.

Providing health care for Egyptian women

The official spokesman added that the initiatives paid great attention to women’s health, as the Egyptian Women’s Health Support Initiative received more than 72.1 million visits, and included screening and early detection services for breast cancer, performing hundreds of thousands of mammogram examinations and taking samples, in addition to providing treatment. Early tumor detection efforts also included cervical cancer screening, and more than 4 million women benefited from the maternal and fetal health care initiative, for early detection of infectious diseases in pregnant women.

Expanding the scope of health care services

It also provided early detection services for chronic diseases and kidney disease to more than 23 million citizens, and more than 2.3 million elderly people and more than 5 million citizens benefited from examinations for those about to get married to detect hereditary diseases, in addition to examining hundreds of thousands of newborns and examining more than 20One million citizens for early detection of lung, colon, and prostate tumors, and the services of the mental health support initiative “Your Health is Happiness,” which included tests for mental and cognitive health and autism spectrum disorder, with follow-up of positive cases.

Providing free screening, early detection and treatment services to various groups also supports the directions of the tenth goal of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), related to reducing inequalities, by expanding access to health services and reducing disparities in access to health care.

Achieving sustainable economic returns

The official spokesman stressed that initiatives have transformed from prevention and treatment programs into strategic national investments that achieve sustainable health and economic returns, as spending on health has become an investment that reduces the costs of treatment and long-term care, and reduces productivity losses resulting from diseases.Chronic diseases, disabilities and premature deaths, and maintains the labor force.

The initiative for early detection of Hepatitis C achieved an economic return of 359% and saved about 16 billion pounds in direct medical costs, and avoided production losses estimated at 6 billion pounds, while the initiative to support women’s health achieved a return of 57%, the initiative for early detection of hearing loss in newborns, a return of 245%, and the maternal and fetal health initiative saved about 1.8 billion pounds, with an investment return of 43%.

He continued that, at the level of chronic diseases, the initiatives have contributed to reducing the economic losses of high blood pressure, reducing the death rates associated with it by 32.6% and diabetes by 26%, stressing that early detection allows for faster and less expensive treatment and avoids complications that deplete families’ incomes and affect the ability toWork and production.

The impact of investment in health care extends to supporting the eighth goal of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), related to achieving decent work and economic growth, as early detection and reducing disease complications contribute to preserving individuals’ ability to work and produce, and reducing economic losses associated with disease and premature deaths.

In conclusion, presidential public health initiatives reveal that investing in health care goes beyond providing medical service to building more sustainable community and economic capacity; Every case detected early means a greater chance of treatment, less cost to the family and the health system, and a longer period to maintain the individual’s ability to work and produce. From this perspective, prevention and early detection turn from health tools into mechanisms for reducing economic and social losses that may accumulate with delayed detectionThe disease and its complications.

The returns achieved by 100 Million Health confirm that the feasibility of health investment is measured by what it prevents from future burdens as much as it is measured by the current services it provides, which gives the expansion of this system value that goes beyond the numbers of examinations and beneficiaries to building a healthier society with the ability to produce.

Based on its societal role, The Earth Guards Foundation stresses the necessity of continuing to develop health care services and directing its resources towards prevention, early detection, and making services available to various groups, so that citizen health remains one of the basic assets of development, and an engine through which health, social, and economic goals can intersect in a single path toward more sustainable development.