Vodafone bags £100M contract to develop NHS style system in Egypt
British telecom operator Vodafone with the backing of the UK Department for International Trade has bagged a £100m contract to help Egypt develop a new health insurance IT system in the lines of the NHS.
The contract won by Vodafone will be an important part of the Egyptian government’s push to introduce NHS-style universal healthcare for every citizen in the country. Egypt wants the IT system to support a new primary healthcare system identical to the one that operates in the UK.
Vodafone will be partnered by DXC Technology, which is already engaged in providing the IT infrastructure services across the NHS supply chain.
The duo will join forces to create a digital healthcare services platform to enable the launch of Egypt’s universal health insurance scheme. The project will start off as a pilot in Port Said, before it is introduced to four other governorates and then throughout Egypt.
Vodafone is among the major telecom operators in Egypt with 40 million subscribers, which is twice the number it has in the UK.
The Department for International Trade said that the contract to Vodafone comes as British firms and government are working in tandem to carry out a variety of other healthcare activity, to share the benefits of the NHS and British pharma industry with Egypt.
UK Secretary of State for International Trade Liam Fox said: “We in Britain are proud of our NHS and how it provides access to healthcare for everyone. I myself used to be an NHS doctor before becoming an MP, so I know how important it is.
“It is a system that is respected around the world and we want to help other countries do what they can to secure the same benefits for their people.
“That’s why we’ve stood by Vodafone as it sought and secured this contract which, as part of the Egyptian government’s reforms, will help revolutionise healthcare for people here – It is the beginning of an Egyptian NHS for the Egyptian people.”
