New Egyptian health care initiative: Help or hoax?
Egyptians are asking whether the ministry charged with law enforcement and security can be a credible health care provider to the public.
CAIRO — One of two Egyptian initiatives to provide free medical treatment for citizens is receiving mixed reviews among those who find it admirable, those who say it's just a public relations stunt and those who think the state deserves neither praise nor criticism for simply "doing its job."
Police force members and officers, along with their families, already receive free treatment at Egypt’s police and Interior Ministry hospitals. On July 2, some of those hospitals opened their doors to civilians. In an official statement July 29, the Interior Ministry indicated its hospitals in Agouza, Alexandria and the Nasr City district of Cairo had provided free medical exams for 163 people on July 27. The Interior Ministry is responsible for law enforcement and security.
In parallel, the Ministry of Health and Population (MoHP) on July 5 chose 29 government hospitals, including police hospitals in those same three cities, to be part of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi’s "no waiting list" initiative, launched the same day. MoHP seeks to cut the time civilian patients with critical health conditions must wait for treatment. Sisi's initiative also covers surgeries for these patients.
The participation of police hospitals in treating citizens for free raises questions about the police and Interior Ministry's motives: Are they providing medical care for humanitarian purposes or are they seeking to enhance their images? Al-Monitor spoke with people from a variety of sectors who all had opinions on the matter.
