Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi met on 22 August with World Health Organisation (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom, who presented El-Sisi with the WHO’s verification report on Egypt’s health initiatives 100 Million Healthy Lives, Women’s Health, and Children’s Health.

The meeting was also attended by Minister of Health and Population Hala Zayed.

The WHO verification report took the organisation 2,550 working hours to analyse the scientific methods used in screenings, awareness raising, and providing medical care to patients as part of the 100 Million Healthy Lives initiative. The campaign used scientific methods to survey more than 60 million citizens – 60 percent of Egypt’s population. 

Adhanom said the main reason for his visit to Egypt was to deliver the verification report prepared by the WHO to President El-Sisi. This means that Egypt’s initiative is going to be a raw model for other countries that want to implement a similar campaign.

“WHO supports El-Sisi's initiatives to provide healthcare to Egyptian and African citizens, as the organisation is Egypt's partner in implementing the 100 Million Healthy Lives initiative, as well as all initiatives aimed to address health problems in Egypt and Africa,” said Adhanom, while maintaining that the WHO will benefit from Egypt’s experience in healthcare in the African continent.

Australia, Japan, the Netherlands, England, and France have initiated similar initiatives in their countries. Commitment towards implementing the initiative is what makes Egypt unique and different from other countries, Adhanom said. 

According to Adhanom, the initiative of 100 Million Healthy Lives is the largest of its kind in the world.

“WHO is proud to support the initiative, which was not limited to detecting hepatitis C, but also included screenings for non-communicable diseases such as diabetes, obesity, blood pressure and others,” said Adhanom.

Adhanom quoted President El-Sisi saying, “Healthcare is not for the rich only, but for everyone. Poor and rich people must have equal medical care.”

Adhanom said that President El-Sisi’s strong determination to continue implementing the 100 Million Healthy Lives initiative is impressive.

“I am also impressed by the Egyptian government's initiative for the early detection of breast and cervical cancer, which includes 28 million women to be screened over one year,” said Adhanom.

Minister Zayed noted that since 1 July, the beginning of the Women’s Health initiative, 2,600 women have been screened.

Adhanoum pointed out that the verification report on Egypt's initiatives in healthcare and disease control will be made available for the all countries of the world to benefit from.

Adhanom explained that there is clear commitment by El-Sisi as the chairman of the African Union to share Egypt's successful healthcare initiatives with African countries.

Minister Zayed said that the campaign for the early detection of breast cancer targets females 18 and older, and that more public health initiatives are in the pipeline.

Zayed stressed the importance of Egypt's political leadership in supporting women's health.

According to Zayed, the WHO is cooperating with the Ministry of Health and is acting as an outside observer of all the health ministry’s activities and initiatives, stressing that Egypt has gained credibility with its previous health initiatives.