Egypt : Complete Profile - What is GIS - World Health Organization

Health Systems Profile- Egypt Regional Health Systems Observatory- EMRO
X-ray centers 259 0.48
Physiotherapy centers 671 1.24
Opticians 1,648 3.05
Investment hospitals* 155 0.29
Gymnasiums 52 0.10
Total 54,009 100.00
Source: Non-Governmental Institutions and Licency Gen. Dept., MOHP, 2001.
* Those hospitals established under the investment law no. 8 in year 1997. This law gives them
the advantage of 10 years tax-free. Meanwhile, 10% of beds of these hospitals should be
delivered free (unpaid) to people.
The different types of services delivered by the private sector are shown in Table 8.2.8.
Clinics constitute the majority of delivered private services i.e. 82.24% of all services
delivered. Hospitals, whether private or investment, constitute 3.75%.
Key issues and concerns in Secondary/Tertiary care
Excess supply of beds: The excessive bed capacity in Egypt compared with the
current low utilization rate (about 38%), places significant financial burden on the health
care system. It also prevents the MOHP from allocating necessary resources to primary
and preventive care. The problem with existing bed capacity is exacerbated further when
the very low national hospital occupancy rates (ranging from 32%–45%) are taken into
consideration. Better utilization of the number of beds could significantly improve
efficiency and quality of care. In 2001, the population of Egypt was 65,419,797 and the
total national bed capacity was 143,940 beds. This means there was one bed for every
455 of the population. Surprisingly, this ratio is almost the same as what was previously
aimed at for achievement by 2017, which is one bed per 400 of the population. Hence,
in special circumstances (as in the frontiers governorates and newly developing
communities) new beds can be added to the current beds (143,940 beds). A reduction of
available beds is to be adopted as a five-year policy.
Misdistribution of beds: Beds in Egypt are not prpoperly distributed as evidenced by a
5 to 1 differential in beds between urban governorates, such as Cairo with 4.72 beds per
1,000 population, and poor rural Governorates, such as Fayoum, Bahaira and Qena with
only 1.03, 1.13 and 1.15 per 1000 population, respectively.
Inappropriate mix of beds: Egypt has also many inappropriate beds, i.e. the type and
mix of hospital beds and services are not always optimal. In South Sinai for example,
one MOHP facility has 20 incubators, which exceeds the need in that region for this
service, particularly when the characteristics of the population served in that area are
taken into account.
Inadequate capital investment planning: Decisions on investments in physical
capacity (e.g. number and categories of beds, diagnostic laboratories) and medical
technology have a profound effect on the levels of health expenditure and the types of
services that are provided and used.
While each government agency involved in providing health care is responsible for
planning and recommending an appropriate level of investment for health services within
their area of jurisdiction, there is no national level process that ensures the
appropriateness of investments across all sectors – private, government and public.
Regulation of capital investment is one important way in which the state rationalizes
health care services and directs the resources toward the more needy areas. MOHP
should put into action regulations to decide what, where and how a new health-
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