• Plan aims to build a fully digitized health system by 2029
• Strategy centers on unified data, secure platforms, and wider digital services
• Implementation faces challenges in training, cybersecurity, and connectivity

Egypt officially unveiled its 2025-2029 National Digital Health Strategy 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 foundations for a fully digitized health system by 2029.

At the core of the strategy is the creation of an integrated digital ecosystem designed to modernize health services through systematic use of information technologies. The plan includes unifying national health data, building secure and interoperable platforms, and expanding access to digital services that provide faster, more reliable patient follow-up.

The initiative is part of the broader “Digital Egypt 2030” transformation strategy, which places health among its priorities. The country is moving forward in a favorable context. The ICT sector is one of the most dynamic in the Egyptian economy, and Internet penetration exceeds 80 %, according to DataReportal. However, disparities between urban and rural areas could limit the rapid spread of e-health solutions.

Several initiatives show that the country has already begun laying the groundwork for this transformation. Millions of electronic medical records have been registered under the universal health insurance system, while new digital platforms are emerging for telemedicine, hospital automation, and AI-assisted medical analysis.

For the government, the stakes are twofold: improving the efficiency of a health system under pressure, where administrative redundancies and limited access to care remain common, and strengthening national resilience to health crises. The Covid-19 pandemic highlighted the limits of traditional systems.

The implementation of the strategy will have to overcome several challenges. Training health professionals in new digital tools remains essential, as does strengthening cybersecurity to protect highly sensitive data. Improving connectivity in underserved areas will also be key to ensuring equitable adoption of services.