Deputy Minister of Health Visits El-Galaa Teaching Hospital and Holds Meetings to Enhance Family Development Services
Al-Gisr – Exclusive
Dr. Abla El-Alfy, Deputy Minister of Health and Population, conducted an official visit to El-Galaa Teaching Hospital, holding two separate meetings with the General Authority for Health Care and Ain Shams University.
The visit focused on monitoring the implementation of national population strategies, reducing unnecessary cesarean sections, and advancing the presidential initiative “The First 1,000 Golden Days”, with emphasis on family development services and primary health care.
During her hospital tour, the Deputy Minister discussed with medical leadership rates of natural and cesarean deliveries, and postpartum family planning methods. She stressed that increasing hospital visits helps reduce unnecessary cesareans, particularly for first-time mothers, targeting 40% overall and 25% for first-time cases by 2027.
El-Alfy emphasized optimal utilization of human resources, expanding training for obstetricians, gynecologists, and nursing staff on monitoring natural births using the Partogram, and providing intensive practical training to enhance medical team efficiency.
She recommended raising postpartum family planning uptake to 90% of all deliveries, prioritizing long-acting methods while ensuring full privacy during counseling. She also called for the implementation of “warm incubator” and kangaroo mother care during the first golden hour, supporting breastfeeding, and restructuring nurseries into three levels based on the child’s condition to improve resource utilization.
In a meeting with the General Authority for Health Care, attended by Dr. Amir El-Telwani, Executive Director, Dr. Essam Beshara, Advisor to the Chair, and Dr. Heba Abdel-Moneim, Head of Central Follow-up, discussions centered on family development outcomes and urgent plans. The meeting emphasized expanding use of long-acting contraceptives, ensuring their full availability, postpartum insertion, expanded training, redistribution of mobile clinics, integration of community health promoters, activation of incentives, and standardizing operational manuals for primary care centers.
In a meeting with Ain Shams University, attended by Dr. Ghada Farouk, Vice President of the University, Dr. Hala Sweid, Vice Dean of the Faculty of Medicine, Dr. Ashraf Nabhan, Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology, and Dr. Sahar Mousa, Dean of the Faculty of Nursing, the discussions focused on reproductive health, family planning, supporting natural birth, and capacity building for medical staff.
El-Alfy highlighted the importance of postpartum insertion of long-acting contraceptives to reduce the total fertility rate to 2.1 children by the end of 2027. Participants discussed the risks of high cesarean rates and recommended enhancing natural birth care, training private sector providers, implementing the “Mother & Baby Friendly Hospital” initiative, expanding medical convoys, including family planning in curricula, linking digital health data, and strengthening elderly care.
