Parliament Discusses Linking Budget and Development Plan for Addiction Treatment in Egypt

Representatives of Parliament held a meeting yesterday on two legal drafts linking the state’s general budget and the economic and social development plan for the fiscal year 2023/2024, with regard to the General Office of the Ministry of Health and Population, the General Secretariat for Mental Health, the Treatment Institution, the Secretariat of Specialized Medical Centers, the Centers for the Development of Blood Banks Services, the Fund Combating and treating addiction and abuse.

Representative Makram Radwan called on the Addiction Control Fund to conduct a national survey of young people to protect them from addiction, to provide the necessary health care and services with a regular schedule and specific mechanisms for their treatment, and not to leave them prey to the private sector.

Dr. Laila Abu Ismail called for an increase in the financial allocations for the Addiction Control Fund, stressing the necessity of canceling the article stipulated regarding requiring the patient’s consent as a condition for obtaining treatment in government centers, especially since private centers do not require the patient’s consent.

Representative Ashraf Hatem, head of the committee, commented, “This matter requires an amendment to the mental health law.”

Representative Ahmed Al-Arjawi stressed the activation of the Civil Service Law with regard to addicts, and the participation of the Ministry of Solidarity in the treatment of addiction control, warning against expanding access to addiction treatment in private centers due to the high costs of treatment for addiction, in addition to supporting addiction treatment hospitals.

Representative Irene Saeed called for signing a cooperation protocol between health and education to provide the service as it should for students, especially since schools have psychologists, and therefore the use of this wasted energy in schools must be maximized.