The visit began at the Port Said branch of the Egypt Healthcare Authority, where Dr. Mustafa Shaban, the Chairman of the Canal Region and supervisor of the Port Said branch, received the delegation.
The delegation visited the North Al-Horreya Family Medicine Unit, a model for primary care facilities under the Egypt Healthcare Authority. Family medicine facilities are the primary access point for beneficiaries, providing 80% of the medical and therapeutic services citizens need. The delegation toured various clinics including family medicine, dentistry, and pharmacy, and observed the patient journey from the medical registration room through nursing stations to family doctor visits or other medical specialties, concluding at the pharmacy where medications are dispensed and patients are referred to higher medical services if needed. They also learned about the mechanisms for dispensing chronic disease medications and the operation of the digitalized universal health insurance system.
The delegation continued their tour at Al-Hayat Hospital in Port Fouad, inspecting the patient flow within the facility and listening to patients' opinions, who praised the quality of medical services.
During the visit, they took an in-depth look at the facilities of Al-Hayat Hospital in Port Fouad, which has a capacity of 68 beds for inpatient, intensive care for adults and children, emergencies, surgeries, post-operative care, and resuscitation, as well as incubators for newborns and preemies. The hospital also includes 12 outpatient clinics in various specialties such as surgery, physiotherapy, ENT, speech and audiology, mental and neurological, internal medicine, gynecology, pediatrics, dentistry, and orthopedics.
The French delegation highly praised the significant qualitative transformation in the facilities of the Egypt Healthcare Authority in terms of technical and technological equipment. They commended the development of staff skills, adherence to quality standards, and the introduction of new mechanisms that ensure the quality of work outputs, positively reflecting on the level of medical services provided to beneficiaries of the universal health insurance.
The delegation from the French Development Agency included Mr. Andrew Ward, a health strategy expert from the French Agency for Technical and Technical Support and the executive director of WHI Healthcare Consulting, Dr. Magdy Issa, a health systems expert and national coordinator for the support grant, and Mrs. Sherry Maher, grant account manager. The visit is part of the ongoing technical and artistic cooperation efforts between the two sides to accelerate the implementation of the universal health insurance.
They were accompanied during the visit by Dr. Irini Farag, director of Strategic Planning at the Egypt Healthcare Authority, Dr. Mazen Alaa El-Din, supervisor of cooperation with international development organizations, and several leaders of the Port Said branch of the Egypt Healthcare Authority.
