Egypt’s Minister of Health Khaled Abdel Ghaffar on Monday directing the development of a plan to enlist French administrative and nursing teams from the Gustave Roussy Institute, following the review of 394 cancer cases by French specialists in 2025 .. Photo courtesy of the Egyptian cabinet
The move aims to strengthen hospital operations and improve oncology services, the ministry said.
Abdel-Ghaffar issued the directive during a meeting with the hospital’s board of directors, which focused on service development, performance indicators, and operational challenges facing the facility.
Health Ministry Spokesperson Hossam Abdel-Ghaffar said French specialists reviewed 394 cancer cases at the hospital in 2025. He added that the plan includes the regular deployment of French experts under an annual schedule to align treatment protocols between Egypt and France, as well as ongoing training programmes for the hospital’s medical staff.
Officials also discussed operational challenges affecting the hospital, with instructions issued to address them immediately to ensure uninterrupted care and continued progress.
Abdel-Ghaffar also instructed that the construction of bone marrow transplant rooms be completed within a clear timeframe, according to the ministry.
Plans are underway to add new surgical equipment, expand surgical services to treat cancer types beyond breast cancer, and strengthen specialized medical teams as part of the hospital’s performance and service targets for 2025.
Officials said around 85 percent of patients currently treated at the hospital are breast cancer cases, prompting efforts to distribute oncology patients more evenly across specialized facilities and broaden treatment options for other cancers.
The hospital’s operating rooms have recently been upgraded in line with international medical standards to improve surgical accuracy and patient safety. New oncology surgeons who were not previously part of the state-funded treatment system have also been recruited to expand access to advanced care for patients unable to afford private treatment.
In June, Gustave Roussy International–Egypt began providing medical services to beneficiaries of Egypt’s Universal Health Insurance System (UHIS).
More than 150 cases were assessed following a partnership agreement with the Ministry of Health, with evaluations conducted by joint Egyptian-French medical teams, officials said.
Formerly Dar El-Salam Oncology Hospital, one of Egypt’s oldest public hospitals, founded in the early 20th century, the facility was converted into a specialized oncology hospital in 2017 under a brand licensing agreement with the French institute.
The hospital has since played a key role in national health initiatives, including the presidential women’s health programme, through which about 18,000 women received breast cancer screenings in 2019 alone.
Gustave Roussy International–Egypt is the first overseas branch of the French institute, which was ranked among the world’s top five cancer centres by Newsweek in 2023.
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