The Ministry of Health and Population is planning on opening 19 hospitals at a total investment cost of EGP5.7bn in the coming period, with a cost/hospital of c.EGP200-300mn, according to Minster Ahmed Emad El Deen. There is no set schedule yet for opening the new hospitals, and currently the plan is pending the importation of necessary medical equipment from Germany. The government’s plan includes opening six out of the 19 hospitals in the “short coming period”, Emad El Din added. The Ministry earlier decided to earmark EGP7bn for the establishment and renovation of 135 hospitals throughout 2016 and 2017, where currently, the public hospitals count in Egypt reached 660. On a related note, Parliament is currently discussing the draft for the Universal Health Insurance bill, specifically, the article calling for  allocating EGP1.6bn out of the tobacco taxation proceeds to the health insurance budget, where the Minster expects the bill to be approved within a week. (Al Borsa)