AUC Joins International Initiative to Bolster Healthcare Systems in Egypt

The American University in Cairo (AUC) announced the collaboration of a team of its faculty and researchers in a project to assess the Egyptian healthcare system.  The team, led by Hesham Dinana, assistant professor, AUC Department of Journalism and Mass Media, collaborated with Egypt’s Ministry of Health and Population, the London School of Economics, and other academics in a comprehensive report to identify the strengths and weaknesses of Egypt’s healthcare system This project is part of the Partnership for Health System Sustainability and Resilience (PHSSR), an international collaboration between academia, governments, and the private sector to bolster healthcare systems worldwide. Egypt is the first African country to join this global initiative.

As Egypt works towards expanding its national universal health insurance system to cover all citizens by 2030, the report analyzed and provided recommendations across seven critical domains: governance, financing, workforce, medicines and technology, service delivery, population health, and environmental sustainability. 

“This project aims to create lasting solutions that improve access, early detection, and overall care for all Egyptians. So many studies end up with recommendations that never go into action, and that’s something I wanted to avoid from the beginning,” Dinana said. 

Building on the findings of the report, the team is now working on two key initiatives that will be implemented in Egypt’s healthcare reform: creating a centralized health data platform to improve decision making and resource allocation, and establishing a fair financing system that matches healthcare spending with the most common health issues and uses new payment methods to keep costs manageable and sustainable. 

Dinana explained that these efforts will help ensure that resources are distributed where they are needed most. “By using advanced data and innovative payment models, we can create a system that not only improves healthcare outcomes but also makes it more affordable and equitable for all, especially the most vulnerable populations.”

The research team is now working with the government and private sector to launch educational and advocacy programs that will support the implementation of the initiatives. 

Alongside Dinana, Mohamed Salama, professor and graduate program director at AUC’s Institute of Global Health and Human Ecology (IGHHE), and Fayrouz Sakr-Ashour, assistant professor at IGHHE, are serving on the project’s advisory board. The report's AUC-affiliated co-authors include Basma Saleh (MPH ’23), Hebatalla Ismail (MPH ’24), Eman Abu Aly (MPH ’25), and Marwa Hafiz (MPH ’25), who is also the project’s coordinator. Non-AUC researchers include Fatma MA Barakat from the American University of Beirut and Ranin Soliman from the University of Oxford.

“We as a team believe that focusing on healthcare and education as Egypt's top priorities is crucial right now,” Dinana noted. “Healthcare is not just a medical field; it intersects with finance, economics, communications, and engineering. It requires a diverse set of skills, many of which we have here at AUC. This partnership demonstrates that we are trusted to produce world-class solutions,” he concluded.