The Healthcare System in Egypt: Public and Private Care, Universal Health Insurance, Emergencies and Health Risks

The Minister of Health and Population counted 1,839 hospitals and more than 694,000 health professionals in July 2026 (State Information Service). The ministry runs the primary care units and centres, and the general, district and specialised hospitals; university hospitals form a second public pillar, and the historic health insurance organisation (HIO), the curative care organisation and the general organisation for teaching hospitals and institutes are among the bodies attached to the ministry. The private sector completes the offer, with clinics and hospitals concentrated in the large cities and the seaside resorts.

The World Bank puts current health expenditure at 4.88% of GDP in 2023, and the share of that expenditure paid directly by households at 57.2%; life expectancy reached 71.8 years in 2024. These figures explain the importance attached to the universal health insurance reform, which aims to reduce out-of-pocket costs. The page on budgeting for health abroad helps you anticipate these costs.

Law No. 2 of 2018 created a family-based system run by three bodies: the Universal Health Insurance Authority (UHIA), which finances and purchases care, the Healthcare Authority (EHA), which groups public hospitals and units, and the accreditation and quality control authority. Covered care ranges from the family doctor to specialists, hospitalisation, surgery, imaging, tests, medicines, dental care, oncology and emergencies. The insured person contributes 5% of the cost of an operation (capped at EGP 300, about €5), 10% of imaging and tests (capped at EGP 750, about €13) and 10% of medicines (capped at EGP 1,000, about €17); chronic diseases and cancers are exempt (UHIA).

• First phase: launched in Port Said in July 2019, then extended to Ismailia, Suez, South Sinai, Luxor and Aswan, the sixth governorate, inaugurated on 1 July 2025. More than 6 million people are registered there, of whom about 5.2 million are beneficiaries (State Information Service, April 2026).
• Second phase: Minya (trial planned for April 2026), Matrouh, Damietta, Kafr el-Sheikh and North Sinai, with 70 hospitals and more than 12 million people targeted; the entry of Alexandria is under study. The initial timetable ran until 2032; presidential directives now aim for a nationwide rollout by 2027.
• Contributions: 1% of the insurable salary for the employee (plus 3% for a spouse without income and 1% per child), 4% for the employer (3% health, 1% work accidents), 5% for a self-employed professional and 2% of the pension for a retiree (UHIA).
• Registration: national identity card, the family’s civil status documents and a visit to the nearest primary care unit, then assignment to a family doctor; the helpline is 15344.

The Red Sea governorate (Hurghada, El Gouna, Safaga, Marsa Alam), Cairo and Giza are not among the governorates announced for the first two phases, and Alexandria is under study.

The law applies compulsorily to Egyptian citizens living in Egypt. For foreigners, the UHIA specifies that it may provide the service to resident or visiting foreigners under the rules and conditions it sets, taking reciprocity into account. This opening is therefore tightly framed: a French national settled in Luxor or Sharm el-Sheikh asks the UHIA and their employer about their eligibility and the applicable contribution before counting on this scheme. In the other governorates, the existing insurance schemes continue to apply to Egyptian members, and foreigners generally rely on private or international insurance.

France Diplomatie points out that the French State does not cover healthcare costs abroad and that you need a policy of assistance or insurance covering medical costs, surgery, hospitalisation and repatriation. The page on healthcare reimbursement in Egypt details who reimburses according to status, and the guide to the CFE or private insurance helps you choose.

In the governorates with universal insurance, the care pathway starts with the family doctor at the primary care unit, who refers you to a specialist and then to hospital if necessary. Elsewhere, a resident consults a general practitioner or a specialist directly, often in the private sector, and chooses the hospital according to the condition and their insurance contract. France Diplomatie publishes the list of reference facilities with their emergency numbers for Cairo, Alexandria, Luxor, Hurghada, El Gouna and Sharm el-Sheikh; consulting it before arrival lets you save the contacts for your city. The guide to checking the partner network explains how to make sure a facility is accepted by your insurer.

For rabies, France Diplomatie cites three public hospitals in Greater Cairo (Oum El Masreyeen and Al Agouza in Giza, the Zayed public hospital in Sheikh Zayed) as well as 317 public centres that deliver the five-injection protocol.

• Ambulance: 123. The national call centre of the Egyptian Ambulance Organization operates 24 hours a day and dispatches vehicles according to location and availability, with an app for non-urgent requests (State Information Service).
• Tourist police: 126, from a landline or mobile in the Cairo urban area (France Diplomatie).
• French embassy: +20 2 35 67 32 00 for consular emergencies; consular representatives are present in Hurghada and Sharm el-Sheikh, and an honorary consul in Luxor.
• Diving in the Red Sea: decompression chambers in Hurghada (2), El Gouna (1), Safaga (1), Marsa Alam (1), Sharm el-Sheikh (2) and Dahab (2); Nuweiba and Taba have none, and foreigners there are evacuated to Eilat (France Diplomatie).

In a road accident, France Diplomatie notes that assistance to the injured is unreliable and that you often have to ask other motorists for help: an assistance policy including medical repatriation makes full sense here. See repatriation and assistance.

France Diplomatie indicates that the large pharmacies in Cairo offer basic medicines at prices well below those in Europe, while specifying that shortages are not rare. It recommends travelling with the necessary medicines in their original packaging, with a prescription stating the international non-proprietary names. A prescription, if possible in English or translated into Arabic, is essential for medicines containing corticosteroids. Tramadol and products containing CBD are banned in Egypt.

France Diplomatie asks you to bring the usual vaccines up to date (diphtheria-tetanus-polio, whooping cough, measles) and suggests, depending on the stay, vaccines against hepatitis A, typhoid fever, meningitis ACWY (dry season or epidemics), hepatitis B (frequent or prolonged stays), rabies (young children, stays in rural areas) and mpox in case of exposure. Yellow fever is required for travellers coming from an endemic area.

• Water and food: drink sealed bottled or purified water, avoid raw vegetables, seafood and cold buffets, wash your hands regularly. Typhoid fever is transmitted through contaminated water.
• Hepatitis: in October 2023 the World Health Organization commended Egypt as the first country to reach the “gold tier” on the path to eliminating hepatitis C, after one of the highest prevalences in the world. France Diplomatie suggests vaccination against hepatitis A depending on the conditions of the stay and against hepatitis B for frequent or prolonged stays.
• Mosquitoes: dengue and Zika are prevented with covering clothing, repellents and mosquito nets; pregnant women consult a doctor before departure.
• Air and heat: air pollution is particularly high in Cairo; vulnerable people limit outings during peaks. Avian influenza remains endemic in poultry, with no human case detected since 2017.

The expat health insurance page presents the cover to compare, and Expavy helps you weigh it against your situation before departure.