By : Sara Ghali
CAIRO: After Egyptian doctors created a Facebook page to show poor conditions at public hospitals, several other pages were launched to shed light on deteriorating conditions at slums and government-owned schools and facilities.
Slims in Egypt
Prime Minister Ibrahim Mahlab visited the National Heart Institute June 6; he expressed his “shock and surprise” at the hospital’s bad services. Doctors then launched their online campaign titled “so if he comes, he won’t be surprised,” referring to Mahlab. Dozens of grim pictures of dirty state-run hospital beds, tools, and bathrooms have been posted.
The two most prominent pages of the campaign are dedicated for hospitals and slums, with over 273,000 and 17,000 likes, respectively.
An old woman crying from the need, asking for food
The pictures reflect the extreme poor conditions of many of government’s hospitals, even with stray cats inside the facilities. However, government hospitals dedicated to the police or military are not known for such negligence.
Sohag General hospital
The slums page shows a large number of Egyptians who live below the poverty line, trying to find food in the garbage, surviving without essential needs like clean water and sleeping on streets.
Egyptian woman searches among the garbage to find food for her children
The pictures are mostly sent by citizens to the admins of the pages to raise awareness over the situation in hospitals and slums.
A young man eats food remains found in the garbage
According to the hospitals’ page, a press conference will be held Thursday at the Egyptian Medical Syndicate to announce the syndicate proposals for “a real reformation of health catastrophic conditions” in Egypt.
Patients in Balconies on their beds, Kasr el-Aini hospital in Cairo
Mahlab’s visit
During Mahlab’s surprise visit to the Heart Institute, patients received Mahlab with complaints about “careless doctors,” according to Youm7. Some comments on social media on the campaign accuse doctors of “not doing their job” under the premise of not being paid fairly.
A side street of a hospital, full of sewage water and garbage
Mahlab also saw a nurse selling some products at the hospital, referred the facility’s officials to investigations, and rebuked the head of the institute after finding old toilets installed outside the bathroom.
Unequipped dentist clinic in Egypt
He then visited Theodor Bilharz Research Institute (TBRI;) where he was told that the facility’s manager was on a leave. He ordered Minister of Scientific Research Ahmed Abdel Khaleq to fire the institute’s manager.
Stained hospital’s tools
In a response to Mahlab’s visit, Minister of Health Adel Adawy, as well as 27 deputy ministers across the country, decided that they will work from a governmental medical facilities, rather than their own offices, every week to uncover negligence and address health problems.
Warning written in one of Damanhor’s hospitals saying that water is polluted with a bacteria that may cause death
Edited by Hanan Fayed.