Maat concludes a round table to discuss the draft health insurance law

Participants: Health is a national security. Laws must be amended to protect health and set restrictions on selling Egyptian hospitals to foreigners

Demanding the government to announce the actuarial study on the cost of health insurance, publish the official draft of the health insurance law and establish a medical liability law. The most important recommendations

As part of project efforts "The Universal Periodic Review as a Tool to Improve Public Policies during the Transition", To adopt new policies compatible with international human rights standards based on the 2014 UPR, Maat Foundation for Peace, Development and Human Rights held a second round table of the project to discuss a draft law "Comprehensive social health insurance."

Where she carried Public Policy Analysis and Human Rights Unit The project has developed a set of principles and main texts proposed for the "Comprehensive Social Health Insurance" bill, based on previous drafts that have been discussed and amended since 2002.

The background paper included a set of axes related to the general provisions of the comprehensive social health insurance system, the system’s management structure, the Hospitals and Health Care Authority, funding sources and penalties.

A select group of parliamentarians, university professors, representatives of the Egyptian Medical Syndicate participated in the round table.

The National Council for Childhood, the National Population Council, the National Council for Human Rights, the Supreme Council of Universities, and representatives of political parties and civil society organizations.

The participants emphasized that health insurance should be symbiotic and comprehensive for all diseases and all citizens, stressing the importance of having an economic and legislative study of the proposed law before submitting it to Parliament, and the participants supported that the Health Insurance Authority be an independent body affiliated with the Presidency of the Republic and not for profit, with no preference. Establishing profit-oriented entities belonging to the Authority in order to avoid the transformation of the service from a free service to a paid service.

The participants suggested linking citizens to an electronic circuit with the aim of verifying sources of income and ensuring that citizens pay their full shares in health insurance contributions, in addition to stressing the inadmissibility of closing or selling current government hospitals, the importance of developing a plan to reconsider hospital accreditation to avoid dealing with investment hospitals and the need to set restrictions On the issue of selling hospitals to foreigners, the participants suggested the possibility of collecting revenues for the authority from auctions of selling state lands, mobile companies, private sector companies and investment exempt from the 7% from taxes, and private funds. The round table also recommended:

1. Asking the government to announce the actuarial study it previously prepared regarding the cost of health insurance.
2. Announcing the official draft of the health insurance law developed by the concerned committee.
3. Connecting citizens to the electronic circuit and giving the devices permission to access the relevant accounts to verify the sources of income.
4. Holding training courses for doctors to deal with patients in emergencies.
5. Prompt accreditation of government hospitals to avoid purchasing service from investment hospitals.
6. Establish a medical liability law.

It is worth noting that the project, which began implementation in January 2016 and continues over a period of two years, with funding from the European Union, seeks to enhance the role of the universal periodic review to improve public policies and reform human rights in Egypt by actively involving civil society organizations, activists and media professionals in following up and calling for the necessary reform of human rights. And it adopts new policies in line with international human rights standards based on the 2014 universal periodic review.

More updated news about the project activities is available at the following link:     www.fb.com/UPR.Egypt2016