Egypt's High Administrative Court upheld Wednesday a court ruling to oblige the Health Insurance Authority to cover the medicine and treatment of autistic children in what is considered a groundbreaking court ruling for thousands of families of affected by autism in the country.

The High Administrative Court rejected the appeal of the Health Insurance Authority against a prior court ruling to cover the medical needs of a three-year-old child suffering from autism.

The court upheld an Alexandria Administrative Court ruling issued in April 2016 obliging the Health Insurance Authority to provide three-year-old Yasmine Abdel Karim with Cerebrocetam, Memex and Efalex medications to treat her moderate autism, as well as to provide her with a complete medical team including a paediatric endocrinologist, a psychiatrist and speech therapist.

The High Administrative Court also ordered that a periodic report be issued on the health status of the child.

Aside from detailing the special needs of autistic children, the court started in its ruling stating that Yasmine's father could not afford to provide her with that care as a casual worker who does not have a steady income.

The court ruling is considering the first of its kind in Egypt as well as the Arab world.

In April 2019, the assistant minister of education for special needs children said that the number of autistic children is between 1-1.5 million children.