CAIRO — Egypt’s General Authority for Health Care agreed in early August to establish a virtual hospital linked to mobile clinics to serve Bedouin communities in South Sinai and ensure the health care needs of governorate residents are met.

In a Aug. 4 statement, the authority said, “South Sinai is the sixth largest governorate in Egypt. It is a desert environment where mobility is difficult. The places where medical services are provided are scattered due to the geography of the governorate, which also has shortage of manpower and a scarcity of some medical specialists.”

Ahmed el-Sobky, head of the General Authority for Health Care and of the Comprehensive Health Insurance Project, told Al-Monitor, “The decision to establish the virtual hospital accompanies the trial operation of the new insurance system in South Sinai governorate. It aims to cover all health care needs and services for all residents of the governorate, especially in remote areas, where it is difficult to move around easily or because of their distance from hospitals and medical centers.”

In February 2021, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi began a trial of the new health insurance system in South Sinai, which aims to increase the coverage of Egypt’ health insurance system to include vulnerable citizens, in conjunction with the development of hospitals and health centers in South Sinai.