Dr. Mostafa Madbouly, the Prime Minister, met on Monday, June 23, 2025, at the government headquarters in the New Administrative Capital with Mr. Shamshir Vayalil, the Chairman of Burjeel Holdings, to discuss potential cooperation in the field of bone marrow transplantation.
The meeting was attended by Dr. Khaled Abdel Ghaffar, the Deputy Prime Minister for Human Development and Minister of Health and Population, along with several officials from the Ministry of Health and Population and Burjeel Holdings.
At the beginning of the meeting, the Prime Minister welcomed Mr. Shamshir Vayalil and his accompanying delegation, noting that today's meeting was aimed at discussing a proposed cooperation agreement with Burjeel Holdings regarding the management and operation of the bone marrow transplantation unit at Sheikh Zayed Specialized Hospital.
During the meeting, the Chairman of Burjeel Holdings stated that the institution was established in 2012 and manages a wide network of hospitals and medical centres in the UAE and Oman, as well as in several African countries such as Tunisia, Chad, South Sudan, Uganda, Tanzania, Mauritania, and Somalia, which gives it a distinguished position in the field of medical tourism.
Mr. Shamshir Vayalil explained that Burjeel Holdings provides specialised services in more than 50 medical specialties, including oncology, haematology, and bone marrow transplantation, in addition to offering accredited training programmes in the fields of transplantation, nursing, and intensive care.
He indicated that cooperation with the Egyptian government represents an opportunity to reinforce Egypt's position as a regional centre for bone marrow transplantation and targeted immunotherapy by leveraging its expertise in medical tourism and taking advantage of Egypt's geographical location and competitive costs to attract patients from various countries.
For his part, Dr. Khaled Abdel Ghaffar highlighted that the collaboration with the Emirati Burjeel Holdings in managing and operating the bone marrow transplantation unit at Sheikh Zayed Specialized Hospital is part of the Ministry of Health and Population's direction towards developing bone marrow transplantation and targeted immunotherapy services in Egypt, and activating strategic partnerships with international entities experienced and leading in this field. This collaboration is also part of the Egyptian state's efforts to enhance investment in the health sector and medical tourism, providing advanced medical services of high quality.
The minister affirmed that this partnership would contribute to achieving the national strategy to eliminate waiting lists for bone marrow transplantation patients by helping to increase operational capacity in a number of hospitals besides Sheikh Zayed Specialized Hospital. The number of bone marrow beds at the Specialized Medical Centres will be increased from 44 beds (27 beds at Nasser Institute and 17 beds at Sheikh Zayed Specialized Hospital) to 100 beds by the end of 2025 by adding the following beds: 11 beds at Sheikh Zayed Specialized Hospital, 5 beds at Sohag Cancer Centre, and 40 beds at Agouza Hospital.
He added that cooperation with Burjeel Holdings contributes to the implementation of the national bone marrow registry project, indicating that Burjeel has international purchasing power that enables it to supply medications and supplies for bone marrow transplantation operations regularly, in accordance with the regulations and laws of the Egyptian state, which helps eliminate waiting lists.
The minister continued that the cooperation with Burjeel Holdings will include providing training programmes in the fields of bone marrow transplantation and oncology, as well as specialised training in radiation oncology on stereotactic surgery (SRS) and body stereotactic radiation therapy (SBRT) using the BrainLab system. The collaboration will also include training in molecular laboratory techniques and molecular pathology and digital pathology, in cooperation with OncoHelix, and support for the introduction of targeted immunotherapy techniques, specifically CAR-T Cell Therapy.
The Cabinet
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