In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Shamseya conducted this study to investigate the response to and level of worry of the community about the virus. This research also investigates the infection control measures taken by public spaces to limit transmission. We also present a brief reflection about the curfew measures […]
Forming strategically-oriented communities has led to people addressing some of the challenges they face, such as scarcity of medical services. The clustering of people can enable the creation of entire healthcare systems when supported by some expert technical and logistical expertise and guidance. By “communities” we refer to any groups […]
One event wastes 25% of our healthcare money and pushes 1/5 of Egyptian families into poverty, just because we don’t like to talk about it! By Ayman Sabae The cost of a taboo Imagine a country where the event of giving birth and the period that precedes it (pregnancy) is […]
At Shamseya we are seeking the gradual implementation of a deep, community-rooted, dynamic system that accounts for the scarce resources and available infrastructure, is custom-designed and managed by communities, possesses the flexibility to adapt to each communities’ preferences and needs, insures choice of providers, guarantees work sustainability, pushes towards accountability […]
It has been widely agreed upon that healthcare systems left to function according to market forces alone do not result in socially optimal quantity, quality or distribution of healthcare. J.F. Outreville, The health insurance sector: Market segmentation & international trade in health services Yet, in this proposed scheme, the private […]
Sometimes, the risks that an insurance (or micro-insurance) scheme has to deal with become too large to be assumed through one entity. In addition, if micro-insurance schemes group people with different income levels and risk profiles under one pool, it is expected that there will be different micro-insurance units with […]
The main building blocks of this proposed healthcare system rest on the notion that even poor households can and do pay for healthcare, and that their community can generate income to cover the recurrent costs of basic health units, to complement or replace weak public institutions. This means a major […]
Micro-insurance schemes are programs and institutions that adapt traditional insurance mechanisms (pre-payment, risk-pooling and coverage guarantees) to the informal sector, providing services to beneficiaries that are commonly excluded from formal insurance. E. Morelli, G.A. Onnis, W.L. Ammann, C. Sutter (Eds), Micro insurance – An Innovative tool for risk and disaster […]
Preferred-Provider Organizations (PPOs) are a variant of health service coverage that is largely used in the western world. They are usually privately run organizations that group individuals under a list of preferred providers and can therefore provide better prices for its members with the option of using services outside of […]
The Egyptian healthcare system went through repeated attempts of reforms over the past three decades. Stagnant politics and a very centralized decision making process lead to the fact that none of the attempted reform efforts ended rewardingly. In 1997, the government of Egypt launched the Health Sector Reform Program (HSRP), […]
In Egypt, health services are delivered by a multitude of public service providers (the ministry of Health (MOH), ministries of Higher Education, Defense, the Interior, etc.), the Health Insurance Organization (HIO), Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and an expanding network of private practitioners and medical facilities. Even though presence of multiple providers […]
In the Arab Republic of Egypt, the role of the government in guaranteeing the respect, protection and fulfillment of the right to health for all citizens has been underlined in the constitution, where it is announced to be a fundamental right. There has been, however, no realization of the right […]
Rotating Savings and Credit Associations (ROSCAs) are grass-root micro-finance initiatives that are created within communities of families, friends, co-workers or neighbours, to share common resources in order to address the specific timely financial needs of its members. Run on a volunteer, collective base, members of these associations do not sign […]
Even though the term “patient-centered care” was first employed in the 1988 Picker/Commonwealth Program (1), the principle itself goes back to the ancient Greek school of Cos, which paid special attention to the particulars of each patient (2). Since, various approaches seeking to centralize patients in healthcare have arisen and, […]
In Egypt, there is no doubt that advances in medicine have given us plenty of options to improve general health outcomes, however, the gap between physicians and patients remains noticeably wide. Individuals receiving treatment, as well as their families, are excluded from making decisions relevant to the clinical management of […]
Photo credit: William Campbell/Corbis Among the first things that come to mind when thinking of Rwanda is probably the 1994 genocide that destroyed much of the country’s socio-economic and health infrastructures, the scarce resources and overall intense poverty. It is one of the Sub-Saharan African countries that are rarely mentioned, […]
Most of us are probably alive and kicking thanks to the discovery and subsequent introduction of antibiotics in the early 20th century. They notably improved the clinical management of infectious diseases, which were previously untreatable or even fatal, winning them a reputation for being “miracle drugs”. Unfortunately, their ability to […]
Political programs and strong resonating promises of politicians in Egypt repeatedly talk about “Free healthcare as a right”. Aside from the poetic impracticality of such promises in a country where three quarters of the total healthcare expenditures are out-of-pocket household expenditures, the question we ask is: “Is Free healthcare” a notion […]
