Chairman of the Committee on Health Affairs in the Egyptian House of Representatives, MP Mohammed Khalil Al-Amari said that the committee will immediately start holding hearings for all parties on the draft health insurance bill once it is referred to the committee upon its arrival in parliament from the government.

He stressed that the new law will be a major shift in the provision of health care and treatment to all Egyptians in accordance with the Constitution stipulated in the right of every citizen to receive treatment.

He added that the philosophy of law depends on separation of service from funding, giving the patient the right to choose the place where he receives treatment, whether governmental or private hospitals, saying that new system in accordance with the law will eliminate the shortcomings of the existing system and its corruption in the health insurance system.

He added that Egypt’s Ministry of Health is doing its best to eliminate unauthorized medical centers, adding that the parliament will open this file after the return of leave with the start of the third session in early October.

She added, in an interview with “Al Maghrib Today”, that unlicensed health centers pose serious threat against the health of Egyptian citizens, saying that they could harm the patients. He stressed that the parliament will take serious measures to take punitive actions against those people who work establish such centers.

He  added, “These centers are unlicensed and therefore there is no restriction. However, there are many medical centers operating without a license from the Ministry of Health spread throughout the Republic, and the presence of these centers represents a danger to the health of Egyptians because they are not under supervision.

As for the number of licensed centers from the Ministry of Health, He said that it was natural for the Ministry to have data in this regard, since the establishment of any medical center is only obtained by obtaining licenses from the Ministry and each center has a complete file.

Hestressed that such centers pose serious threat against the patients as they are outside the control and follow-up of the responsible body represented by the Ministry of Health, as well as that a number of them may resort to unacceptable operations such as abortions and the very serious.