• Plan includes national health data system, online services, and AI tools

• Aims to ease system strain, but rural gaps and training remain key hurdles
  

Amid rising demographic pressure and growing strains on its healthcare system, Egypt is accelerating its digital transformation with a new national roadmap for the health sector. The country aims to leverage digital technologies to modernize management, expand access, and improve service efficiency.

Egypt officially unveiled its National Digital Health Strategy 2025-2029 on Saturday, November 15. Presented by Minister of Health and Population Khaled Abdel Ghaffar during the 3rd World Congress on Population, Health and Development (PHDC’25), the roadmap sets the foundation for a fully digitized health system by 2029.

A core element of the strategy is the creation of an integrated digital ecosystem intended to modernize health services through the systematic use of information technology. Key measures include consolidating national health data, building secure and interoperable digital platforms and expanding access to online services to improve the speed and reliability of patient monitoring.

The initiative falls under the broader “Digital Egypt 2030” transformation strategy, which places health among its priority areas. Implementation is supported by favorable conditions: the ICT sector is one of the fastest-growing in the Egyptian economy, and internet penetration exceeds 80%, according to DataReportal. Still, persistent disparities between urban and rural areas could slow the rollout of e-health solutions.

Several previous initiatives show that Egypt has already begun laying the groundwork for this transition. Millions of electronic medical records have been created under the universal health insurance program, while new platforms for telemedicine, hospital automation, and AI-assisted medical analysis continue to emerge.

For the government, the objective is twofold: to improve the efficiency of an overburdened healthcare system where bureaucratic bottlenecks and barriers to care remain widespread, and to strengthen national resilience against health crises, a priority underscored by the COVID-19 pandemic, which exposed the limits of traditional systems.

Implementing the strategy will require overcoming several challenges. Training health professionals to use new digital tools remains essential, as does strengthening cybersecurity to protect sensitive data. Expanding connectivity in underserved regions will also be critical to ensuring equitable access to digital health services.

Samira Njoya