President El-Sisi Instructs Government to Increase Number of Kidney Transplants

President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi met today with Prime Minister Dr. Mostafa Madbouly, Minister of Finance Dr. Mohamed Maait, Minister of Health and Population Dr. Hala Zayed, Presidential Advisor for Financial Affairs Major Mohamed Amin, and Presidential Advisor for Health and Prevention Affairs Dr. Awad Taj El-Din.

The Spokesman for the Egyptian Presidency stated that the meeting discussed the current situation of the Covid-19 spread at the national level and the developments in the provision of vaccines as well as the state’s efforts to improve the citizens’ public health and comprehensive medical care.

Dr. Hala Zayed presented the latest transmission and infection COVID-19 rates at the national level, which indicated that the number of Covid-19 cases have been dropping in this wave of infection and that the number of cases in the quarantine hospitals is decreasing.

During the meeting, the national efforts to import vaccines, particularly those approved by the World Health Organization (WHO), were showcased along with the ongoing executive steps to start the local manufacture of the “Sinovac” COVID-19 vaccine in partnership with the Chinese expertise.

The Sinovac-CoronaVac vaccine will be actually produced during the current month by the Holding Company for Biological Products and Vaccines “VACSERA.” Egypt has received the first shipments of raw materials to manufacture the vaccine; 40 million vaccine doses will be manufactured during the coming period. In this context, the efforts of the Ministry of Health in allocating vaccination centers across the Republic were discussed along with the Ministry’s efforts in vaccinating all workers in the tourism sector and other vital sectors.

Hence, His Excellency commanded that vaccination centers be expanded nationwide and that major centers be established in each governorate in order to provide vaccination services to the largest number of citizens.

The President also directed that an integrated plan be set for developing and raising capabilities of the “VACSERA” company; thus, it would become a national industrial edifice indistinguishable from major international companies and factories in this field.

The Spokesman added that the meeting also discussed the state's efforts in the treatment system for renal failure nationwide in order to improve care for people with this disease. Hence, the meeting addressed the relevant detailed studies that have been conducted and the statistics made to compare Egypt with similar countries. The distribution map of dialysis centers inside Egypt as well as the cost of treatment were also presented.

The President instructed the government to provide all necessary support to increase the number of kidney transplants as the optimal treatment for patients with renal failure. Hence, patients’ suffering will be alleviated and their living conditions will be improved; the health and economic repercussions of this disease are also taken into account.

Thus, all the needed studies should be carried out and the necessary executive steps be taken to increase the number of all transplant centers nationwide, the President directed the government officials.

Moreover, the status of the Egyptian center for disease control was presented; it includes a research and development center, training centers, a number of specialized clinics for disease control, and various specialized laboratories. The center will contribute to employing advanced technology to discover and control communicable and non-communicable diseases, strengthening the early detection of public health threats, controlling the spread of communicable diseases, and raising awareness of public health, as well as collecting data and statistics for all kinds of diseases. The center will also play a role in prioritizing public health threats to develop plans for treating patients and training medical personnel.