Egypt's Disaster:
A Healthcare System in Chaos

"What is the use of physicians like myself trying to help parents to bring up children healthy and happy, to have them killed in such numbers for a cause that is ignoble."
-Benjamin Spock

  • Overview

    • The children in Egypt suffer from numerous diseases due to the lack of proper healthcare, the lack of proper hygiene, and the unsanitary living conditions. Malaria, Tuberculosis, Hookworm, Trachoma, and dysentary are just some of the many diseases which hinder the lives of Egyptian children. Among other health related problems are diarreal infections, stunted growth due to malnutrition, and female circumcision.

  • Billharzia

    • The entire human population of Egypt highly depends on the Nile River which is becoming extremely polluted from the inadequate sewage disposal and other industrial effects. This results in Billharzia, the most widely spread disease. This is a parasitical disease carried by the snails in the water. It causes weakness of the organs and overall debilitation. Children are more susceptible to this disease because they play in the water and do not have a proper understanding of hygiene.

  • Eye Diseases

    • Another huge problem in Egypt is the numerous cases of eye disease caused by flies and genetic disorders. Around 150,000 children are totally blind and there are 3,570,000 victims.

  • Mortality

    • Infant mortality is a major problem in Egypt. Every 71 out of 1000 children die before they reach their first birthday and the life expectancy at birth is around 64 years. It is worse in some rural areas where two out of five children die before they reach five years old.

  • Causes

    • The cause of all these diseases is from the immense overpopulation, poverty, and poor education. The lack of piped water, poor health facilities, lack of soap, and lack of proper hygeine are also part of the poor living conditions. Rural Egypt does have many health facilities but they are in very poor condition, dirty, with low quality services. The children in Egypt suffer from many health problems which are currently being worked on and improved by child organizations in Egypt and the United States.

  • Health Facilities

    • The government has just recently established 14 public and central hospitals, 115 rural health units, and 39 rural hospitals. This is a large increase; between the years of 1988 and 1992, there was only one physician per 1,320 people, with a low nurse to doctor ratio.

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    References:
    Casterline, J.B., Cooksey, E.C., & Ismail, A.F.(1992). "Infant and child mortality in rural Egypt," Journal of Biosocial Science, 24, 245-260.
    El-Zantay, F., & Way, A.(1998) National population council releases new survey findings: data asses the health situation of Egyptian women and children. Egypt Demographic and Health Survey. http://macronoit.com/dhs/news/pressfact/EG96e_press.html (1998,October,18)(no longer in service).
    Gunther, J. (1995) Inside Africa. New York: Harper and Brother.
    Egypt (1995) Worldmark Encyclopedia of the Nations, Africa (8th ed.). New York: Gale Research Inc.

    The purpose of this page is to inform browsers of the healthcare system in Egypt. This site was created by Nicole Friedman and is part of The Children of Egypt created by Nicole Friedman, Kristi Oppenheim, Tara Russel, and Erica Tennenbaum for Tulane University's Children and Society English Writing Seminar taught by Professor April Brayfield. You can view other country profiles created by our classmates to see how the lives of children vary in different regions.

    Fall 1998