In 1996, the Ministry of Health and Population (MOHP) initiated a reassessment of the health sector situation in Egypt and recognized a need to explore alternatives for a comprehensive reform, so as to tackle the structural, technical, managerial, etc., shortcomings the sector had. Consequently, the Egyptian Government, in 1997, adopted the Health Sector Reform Program (HSRP), which lays out a framework for undertaking a thorough reform of the health sector over the mid- and long-term, with a key objective to achieve universal health insurance coverage for all citizens. ... In 2006, the World Bank and MOHP studied the impact of the Egyptian HSRP and concluded that however the program had led to several laudable outcomes, it had but a modest effect on Reproductive Health (RH) care uptake. And increasing uptake of RH care is necessary for Egypt to achieve its national strategic goals––reach replacement level fertility (2.1 children per woman) by 2017, reduce the Maternal Mortality Rate to 44/100,000 in 2015, and stop the spread of HIV/AIDS by 2015... Currently, Total Fertility Rate averages out at 3.0 children per woman, while Maternal Mortality Rate stands at 55/100,000, and incidence of HIV/AIDS yet increases annually. It was therefore in mid 2007 the MOHP and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) launched a five-year project (SSDURH) with a main goal to strengthen impact of HSRP on RH care utilization, by creating a number of model health districts where the project pilots its initiatives and evidence-based interventions for improved health care. And once an intervention is proved effective, it is replicated across the national level in an informed and meaningful manner. |
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