Dr. Ali Al-Ghamrawy, Chairman of the Egyptian Drug Authority, met with Ahmed El-Sobky, Chairman of the Egypt Healthcare Authority and Supervisor General of the Universal Health Insurance and Life Dignified projects, to discuss the potential partnership with the private sector in managing and operating external pharmacies affiliated with the General Healthcare Authority. This partnership aims to enhance the quality of pharmaceutical services and ensure the sustainability of the healthcare system in delivering medicines to citizens.
During the meeting, Dr. Al-Ghamrawy emphasized that the Egyptian Drug Authority collaborates with all healthcare service providers to ensure the safe and effective delivery of high-quality medications to patients. He also highlighted the successful cooperation between the Egyptian Drug Authority and the General Healthcare Authority in areas such as pharmacovigilance, rational use of antibiotics, and pharmaceutical economics research. He pointed out that the coming period will witness further integration to expand the scope of joint work between the two entities.
Looking ahead, Dr. Al-Ghamrawy stated that the partnership will also focus on key initiatives such as promoting the concept of “green pharmacies,” launching pharmaceutical education campaigns for patients, enhancing electronic connectivity between pharmaceutical databases and pricing and registration systems, and conducting feasibility studies for local pharmaceutical manufacturing based on actual market needs.
On his part, Dr. Sobky confirmed that the General Healthcare Authority dispenses over 3,000 types of medications at its facilities in the first phase of the Comprehensive Health Insurance System, with an average of 41.5 million medication packages distributed monthly. He emphasized that this ensures the availability of essential medicines to all patients while maintaining the highest standards of quality and safety in healthcare services.
Sobky further explained that the total annual expenditure on medications within the General Healthcare Authority exceeds 4 billion Egyptian pounds, with this figure expected to gradually increase as the Comprehensive Health Insurance System expands to new governorates. This will require reinforcing strategies to provide the best healthcare services while ensuring the highest levels of quality and treatment efficiency.
He also highlighted the successes achieved in collaboration with the Egyptian Drug Authority, particularly in the areas of pharmacovigilance and the integration of the drug tracking and monitoring system. He assured that efforts to enhance these connections and integration would continue, particularly in the ongoing updates to drug pricing systems.
Moreover, Sobky emphasized that involving the private sector in managing external pharmacies would yield multiple benefits, including improving the patient experience by offering more advanced pharmaceutical services, increasing the market share of private and independent pharmacies, stimulating investment in the pharmaceutical sector, and ensuring the sustainability of the healthcare system.
He added that this project would save the General Healthcare Authority over 1 billion pounds annually in operating and management costs, improving the efficiency of healthcare spending. It will also enable pharmaceutical staff within the authority to focus on more specialized tasks in clinical pharmacy and pharmaceutical consultations, further enhancing the quality of patient services, in addition to generating growth in the authority’s own resources.
This initiative is part of the Egyptian Drug Authority’s ongoing efforts to strengthen communication and cooperation with all relevant government institutions in the health and pharmaceutical sectors. It aligns with Egypt’s policies for the Comprehensive Health Insurance System, which aims to localize advanced healthcare and pharmaceutical services for the Egyptian people.
