Abdel-Ghaffar's comments came during a conference for enhancing women's healthcare services held on 8 March on the occasion of International Women's Day.

He stressed that the government attaches great importance to women-related issues, emphasising women’s health and their empowerment on health and social levels.

The conference was held in cooperation with private sector companies like Novartis; individuals including Dr. Mohamed Hassani, assistant minister of health for public health initiatives; Dr. Muhammad Al-Tayeb, assistant minister of health for technical affairs and governance; health ministry senior officials; medical teams working on the presidential Women’s Health initiative and other authorities managing the women’s health portfolio.

“This celebration is a culmination of Egypt’s achievements in all women-related fields, mainly promoting their health and their families’ health,” said the minister.

These achievements were made by providing every woman with high-quality medical services via initiatives and campaigns under the Women’s Health initiative's slogan "100 Million Healthy Lives."   

“Since July 2019, 33,827,901 women accessed medical services at 3,538 healthcare units and 102 hospitals across the country under the initiative,” the minister added.  

He noted that the initiative achieved its goals in early cancer detection, showing that figures for stage one and stage two detections were up.

In addition, the initiative has increased women’s awareness on the importance of regular examinations, boosting their communication with basic care units, providing disease screening services, enhancing women’s reproductive healthcare and providing free treatment protocols.

Health Ministry Spokesman Hossam Abdel-Ghaffar said the minister commended the cooperation between civil society, government authorities, concerned sectors and private companies on women's issues, including healthcare.

He asserted the ministry's keenness to provide women with health services, including mobile medical teams that can reach them at work or at home.

He also pointed to mobile units providing mammogram and ultrasound screenings, saying that they cover the largest possible number of women and provide access to necessary health services.

He asserted that the day’s celebration was a key step in improving women's health services, stressing the need for open channels of communication with international institutions to share expertise.

This can help reduce the number of female cancer patients by increasing awareness among medical professionals about the latest treatment methods and protocols.  

On the sidelines of the celebration, the health minister honoured a number of female workers from the Women’s Health initiative's medical teams and workers in the health sector for their distinguished efforts, wishing them success in their careers.

The Ministry of Health and Population has established centres, upgraded pathology laboratories, secured 27 mammogram and five ultrasound machines for advanced examination centres and enhanced the oncology treatment system in Egypt.

It has also provided training and education to 17,747 trainees from the ministry's departments since the initiative's launch, as per international standards.

In addition, the ministry has reached an agreement with the French Gustave Roussy Institute and the Dar Es-Salaam Oncology Center to upskill medical staff.