Introduction

The Arab Republic of Egypt continues to incrementally formulate national healthcare policies to ensure universal health insurance for all citizens across the nation. The intention of universal health insurance or health sector reform is to ensure a basic package of health services. This chapter investigates the nature and impacts of health policies and healthcare services delivery equitably to all the citizens and residents of Egypt. It argues that the extent to which health policies in Egypt could reduce the direct pathological effects of various chemicals, physical, and biological agents of diseases that are prevalent communicable and noncommunicable diseases could reduce healthcare challenges in the country. Therefore, health policies should not be limited to hospital care and practitioners’ issues. It must cover how to manage the deficiencies in the treatment of wastewater, poor sanitation systems, the disposal of untreated sewage, inadequate operations, and maintenance of treatment plants that often result in serious health risks to citizens of the country. Questionnaires and interviews were used to collect data for this research. Secondary research methods were used to determine the effectiveness of health policies in Egypt. The research reveals that although the government of Egypt has adopted several health policies in the past three decades, there are challenges in the investment of more funds in health care because of the continued increase in the population of the nation. In addition, there tends to be more pressure on existing hospital infrastructure in Egypt. There is also a need for the government to update the training of skilled health professionals, including updating healthcare technology in the country. There is also much to do to close the gap between the level of access to quality healthcare in both the rural and urban regions of Egypt. The current challenges facing the health delivery system in Egypt require policies that could create a balance between the citizens’ healthcare needs, risks, and benefits. In addition, developing modern information systems could play a significant role in training and enforcing effective and better healthcare delivery systems in the country.

Brief History

The Arab Republic of Egypt is in the northeastern part of the African continent. The nation currently has a population of 107.5 million people (World Health Organization 2022).