Egyptian Minister of Health and Population Khaled Abdel-Ghaffar and his Qatari counterpart Hanan Al-Kuwari agreed Thursday, on the sidelines of the World Innovation Summit for Health (WISH) currently held in Doha, on exchanging expertise in the field of health.

During the meeting, the two sides agreed that Qatar shall benefit from Egypt's experience in launching health initiatives, in order to conduct studies and surveys on some diseases such as hepatitis C virus and breast cancer, health ministry spokesman Hossam Abdel-Ghaffar said.

On the other hand, Egypt will make use of Qatar’s experience in setting its own universal health insurance scheme and in digitisation, he noted.

The health minister congratulated the Qatari minister on the success of the World Innovation Summit for Health (WISH), which is held every two years, and praised its in-depth discussions.

The two sides agreed to form a working group in a number of sectors relevant to the field of health, and to start holding meetings via “video conference” followed by visits to identify areas of cooperation.

In September, Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi held an official session of talks with Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani on Wednesday at the royal palace in Doha. Then the two leaders oversaw the signing of a number of memoranda of understanding (MoUs) between the two countries.

During the talks, Emir Tamim told El-Sisi that he hoped fraternal relations between the two countries continue to grow and develop, according to the official Qatari News Agency QNA.

The Qatari emir also expressed his hopes that El-Sisi’s visit would contribute to consolidating cooperation between the two countries in ways that fulfil both people's aspirations and promote their interests, QNA added.

For his part, El-Sisi affirmed to Emir Tamim Egypt's openness to deepening ties with Qatar in the fields of politics, security, economy and trade.

The Qatari emir hailed Egyptian efforts in supporting Arab and Gulf causes, lauding the country's prominent role in promoting joint Arab action mechanisms in the face of crises and challenges.