Cairo - With her child with excessive bleeding, um Ramadan goes on a difficult journey every week to the hematology unit at Abu El-Rish Hospital in Cairo, during which the Egyptian woman does not know anything about the dollar, but only knows that moment when her son is injected with the blood and plasma he needs.
But the ongoing turmoil in the price of the dollar against the Egyptian pound and the subsequent government hike in the price of blood products shocked um Ramadan, which travels about 115 kilometers from Beni Suef, south of Cairo. When she did not find her goal, she had to return to her hometown again, while her child suffers from unbearable pain, especially since the delay in treating Ramadan caused arthritis and muscle deformities, according to her speech to Al Jazeera Net.
A few days ago, the government decided to increase the prices of blood products by more than 60%, causing confusion in government and private centers, amid expectations that the crisis will worsen due to the continued rise of the dollar against the pound, according to Sayed Al-Bishlawi, a doctor at the Hematology Center at Abu Al-Rish Hospital, who confirmed that the number of patients, especially children, is constantly increasing.
Speaking to Al Jazeera Net, El Beshlawy explains that infection rates in Egypt exceed one in 10,<>, according to World Health Organization estimates.
Al-Bishlawi talks about what he calls a tragedy of a special kind due to the high price of blood products that will suffer from patients with excessive bleeding "hemophilia", explaining that Ramadan the child, like many others, suffers from a genetic bleeding disorder, so bleeding cannot be stopped easily due to the lack of sufficient clotting factors in their blood, and clotting factors are required to clott blood and even prevent excessive bleeding, which requires continuous follow-up and permanent compensation for lost blood.
According to the new price list that was circulated to all centers, the price of a regular blood bag, including compatibility and type tests, rose from EGP 210 to EGP 325 for government agencies, and EGP 750 for private entities, while the price of a blood bag (SAGM) rose to EGP 375 for government agencies, and EGP 800 for private entities. (The dollar is officially around 31 pounds.)
A Ramadan mother travels more than 100 kilometers weekly to Cairo in search of blood for her son with excessive bleeding (Al Jazeera Net)
Government justifications
The Ministry of Health acknowledges the crisis, but confirms that the cost of a blood bag amounts to about 1300,42 pounds ($80), and that the prices of blood and blood products are "subsidized" so far by 55% for government agencies, and <>% for private entities, explaining that most cases of excessive bleeding receive treatment at the expense of the state.
The ministry explained the crisis because "all materials and supplies are imported from abroad and their price has risen recently," so the decision to raise the price of blood products came with the aim of "not stopping the service."
Said Farag (farmer) from the Qanater area in Qalyubia Governorate, explains that he already receives half of what he needs from the amounts of compensatory blood for years, but he is forced as he says to Al Jazeera Net to get additional bags from charitable centers for free, stressing that he suffered a lot in the past months "and it is no longer easy."
Queues
In this context, Dr. Samir Barakat at the Blood Research Center at Ain Shams University warns of the danger of trafficking in blood bags and blood products, stressing that participating in the provision of blood in exchange for a material amount is a crime punishable by law.
Speaking to Al Jazeera Net, Barakat points out that patients with "excessive bleeding" are just a limited model, but the greatest risk is related to ongoing surgeries everywhere, pointing to long waiting lists in various hospitals despite government action and presidential initiatives.
In this context, the official spokesman of the Ministry of Health, Hossam Abdel Ghaffar, pointed out in a statement that one million and 659 thousand and 672 surgeries have been performed, as part of President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi's initiative, to end waiting lists and prevent the accumulation of new lists in critical surgical interventions included in the initiative, since its launch in July 2018.
Abdel Ghaffar said in a statement to local newspapers that the initiative, which is completely free of charge, includes surgeries (heart, bones, ophthalmology, tumors, cerebral catheterization, cardiac catheterization, brain and nerves, kidney transplantation, liver transplantation, cochlear implants).
The government says it has succeeded in reducing waiting lists in hospitals and performed more than 1.5 million surgeries for free (Al Jazeera Net)
Medical supplies crisis
Marwa Talaat, a pediatrician, believes that people's right to treatment should not be dependent on presidential initiatives, adding that "the government must do its part."
Speaking to Al Jazeera Net, the Egyptian doctor says that tons of urgent medical supplies are reserved in ports for non-payment of their value in dollars to the suppliers, explaining that most of these supplies are necessary tools for surgery.
Mohamed Ismail Abdo, head of the General Division of Medical Supplies at the Cairo Chamber of Commerce, said 183 shipments were seized at the ports, including hundreds of medical supplies that are indispensable to save patients.
Abdo said in a statement that the seized shipments include medical supplies necessary for surgery, including filters for dialysis machines, without which dialysis sessions cannot be performed, and medical supplies necessary for patients during the recovery period from medical operations.
According to the statement published by Egyptian websites and newspapers, "the accumulation of these shipments in the ports, which has been continuous since last January until now, has caused disruption and a significant shortage in the stocks of hospitals and medical centers affiliated with the Ministry of Health and the Universal Health Insurance Authority, as well as university hospitals."
Fahim George, owner of a private medical supplies trade center in Cairo's Kasr al-Aini area, said he has a hard time providing his trade supplies.
George talks to Al Jazeera Net about a significant rise in prices due to the scarcity of the dollar and the government's inability to manage, pointing out that traders paid the amounts required for shipments booked in ports in Egyptian pounds to banks months ago according to government requirements, but the Central Bank did not provide the required dollar to suppliers abroad.
Health sector allocations in the next fiscal year amount to 397 billion pounds, an increase of 92.5 billion pounds (Al Jazeera Net)
Constitutional entitlement
Finance Minister Mohamed Maait entered the line of the crisis that threatens the health sector, and said on the ministry's official Facebook page that "the constitutional entitlement of the health sector has been met in the new budget, despite the unprecedented pressures imposed by the current global challenges on the economies of various countries, including Egypt," explaining that the allocations for the health sector in the next fiscal year amount to 397 billion pounds (13 billion pounds), an increase of 92.5 billion pounds from the previous one.
He stated that the health sector is at the top of the presidential priorities in a way that contributes to the provision of quality services, as an inherent human right, as he put it.
Sayed al-Nomani, a professor of constitutional law at Menoufia University, said health is not a budget number, but a reality that people find on the ground.
Speaking to Al Jazeera Net, Al-Nomani pointed out that all international conventions require governments to create conditions in which everyone can access appropriate, affordable, affordable and affordable health care of reasonable quality in a timely manner.
He also stated that the basic determinants of health also included access to adequate housing, clean drinking water and an adequate supply of safe food.