Egypt: The Minster of Health and Population, Dr Hossam Abdul Ghaffar, issued a statement under the slogan of ‘100 million health’ within the resumption of work with the initiative of President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi for the early detection of anaemia, obesity and dwarf diseases in conjunction with the start of the second semester.

According to recent information from the Ministry of Health, around one million and 884 thousand students were tested as part of the President’s initiative to detect “Anaemia, obesity and dwarfism” in primary schools.

In addition, the Ministry of Health and Population announced the resumption of work with the initiative of President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi for the early detection of diseases (Anaemia, obesity and dwarfism) in primary school students, in conjunction with the start of the second semester of the current year, and for the sake of the state’s health and safety of students.

Dr Hossam Abdul Ghaffar, the official spokesman of the Ministry of Health and Population, said that the initiative teams have been able to screen one million, 884 thousand and 104 students in various schools of the Republic since it was launched last December of the current academic year until yesterday.

He clarified that the initiative targets the examination of students in the primary stage of Egyptians and non-Egyptians residing in Egypt, in the name of 30 thousand public and private schools, indicating that the initiative is still working until the end of the current academic year in all governorates of the Republic.

Abdul Ghaffar added that the initiative’s services include:

• We are conducting medical scans of students.
• We are measuring weight, height, and haemoglobin ratio in the blood.
• I am detecting malnutrition diseases.
• We are developing the necessary mechanisms to improve students’ health in coordination with the Ministry of Education and Technical Education.

On his part, Dr Mohammed Dahi, the head of the General Authority for Health Insurance, said that cases infected with any of these diseases included in the initiative are transferred to health insurance clinics to complete the necessary check-ups and to spend treatment for free.  

“The students are also given a follow-up card, containing their data, to be regularly tracked and reassured of their health condition Constantly through 255 health insurance clinics in all governorates of the republic,” noted Mohammed Dahi.

Additionally, Dr Tamer Samir, coordinator of the initiative, noted that the medical teams participating in the industry reached 2,400 units, each team consisting of 3 people (a nurse, a laboratory technician, and an administrator) who were trained on examination and diagnostic protocols, as well as trained on anti-infection standards.

Samir confirmed that all initiative tasks are carried out with all precautionary and preventive measures, noting that the scanning is carried out throughout the year to prevent accumulation among students. 

Health education teams in the provinces also educate students on how to commit to the preventive measures to stay healthy, signalling the designated hotline “106” to respond to Citizens’ queries about the initiative.