Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi during a meeting with Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly on Saturday, 1 January 2022 (Photo courtesy of the Egyptian presidency)
In a meeting with Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly and other officials on Saturday, El-Sisi instructed the establishment of an integrated system of high-level medical services to people with physical disabilities on a sound scientific basis, Presidential Spokesman Bassam Rady said in a statement.
The system is meant to ease the suffering of people with disabilities and help them integrate into all fields of society, El-Sisi said.
The president advised coordinaton between the concerned state bodies and urged resorting to foreign experience in this field to transfer technology and build the national capabilities to produce high-level prosthetic devices using the best materials.
“This step is meant to establish a comprehensive system for the production of prosthetic limbs in Egypt,” the statement said.
The president instructed the inclusion of academic specialties related to prosthetic devices and physiotherapy into the curricula of modern scientific faculties the state has recently established in new universities.
The meeting reviewed coordination between relevant state authorities to compile a census of the number of people with physical disabilities and the required production capacities of prosthetic devices.
Minister of Social Solidarity Nevine El-Qabbaj, Minister of Industry Nevine Gamea, and Presidential Adviser for Health Affairs Mohamed Awad Tag El-Din attended the meeting.
Also in attendance were El-Sayed El-Ghali, assistant chief of staff of the armed forces for the care of the martyrs’ families, the injured, and social care; Eid Mahmoud, adviser to the defence minister for medical education and prosthetic devices; and Mohamed Ali, deputy director of the armed forces’ Technical Research Department.
In December, El-Sisi had ordered the establishment of a special fund for Egyptians with special needs and the inclusion of the needs of Egyptians with disabilities in the countryside-focused Decent Life national project.
The directives were announced during the Differently-Abled event in Cairo that was held in celebration of the International Day for Disabled Persons.
In December 2020, El-Qabbaj announced the launch of the first phase of the national project to establish a unified system for the production of prosthetic devices in cooperation with concerned state authorities.
In November of the same year, El-Sisi urged consolidating the state’s efforts to produce advanced prostheses in Egypt with the assistance of foreign expertise.
He also urged securing prosthetic rehabilitation programmes to ensure people with mobility impairment can properly use prosthetics.
These programmes target the integration of people with disabilities into society and the job market, especially youth, children, and women breadwinners.
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