CAIRO: The total value of Egypt’s program of treatment at the expense of state has reached 545 million EGP ($69.6 million) during March 2015, compared to 286 million EGP during the same period last year, the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS) said Saturday.
“The total value for state-funded treatment within the country reached 544.8 million EGP during March 2014, compared to 286.2 million EGP during the same period last year, with a 90.4 percent increase,” CAPMAS said in a report issued in June.
The program of treatment at the expense of state provides underprivileged Egyptian patients who cannot afford to pay for medical treatment with the medical services.
According to the report, the total value for state-funded treatment programs carried out abroad in 2014 reached 693,000 EGP compared to the 569,000 EGP in 2013.
Approximately 23 million Egyptians are unable to afford their medical expenses out of whome 7.2 million citizens were recently added to program of treatment at the expense of state, Health Minister Adel al-Adawy said in a news conference held in Upper Egypt’s governorate of Sohag in April.
The United Nations recommend the allocation of 15 percent of a state’s annual budget to free medical programs; official reports say that Egypt’s expenditures over the past three years did not exceed 4.8 percent of its budget.
According CAPMAS, the government dedicated around 2 million EGP in 2014 for free medical care programs, while only 1.2 million citizens were added to the program in the same year.