Dot Egypt: 03 September 2016 -

A high-ranking source told “Dot Masr”, that the infant formula crisis began in late July and continued to increase with the beginning of August, given that the Ministry of Health bought milk for children from abroad, about 30 million pounds, which is about to expire, and it had two weeks left. Only, indeed, the ministry did not sell this expired milk and wasted state funds.

The source added that the biggest surprise is the time when the deal was entered from abroad to the Ministry of Health, and despite the expiration date that was about to expire, it was fully passed and the Health Committee agreed, and the Ministry of Health tried to conceal the issue of unsuitable milk, but the surprise is that the Ministry of Health sold this milk again to one of the men. The business owns large pharmacies to sell to citizens at half the prices after the expiration date changes.

The source added: The regulatory authorities revealed in their report a high-caliber surprise that the Ministry of Health bought expired milk and it was approved without revealing the validity of these products, and that the Ministry of Health imported expired milk and that leaders in the Ministry of Health were involved in buying this milk in exchange for commissions from the deal. It reached 3.5%.

The source revealed that the House of Representatives submitted requests for briefing and interrogations that reached 25 members, but Parliament Speaker Ali Abdel-Al completely rejected the deputies' attempts to question the Minister of Health about the corruption of expired infant formula, and the biggest surprise was that he submitted a report to the Speaker of Parliament that includes that the Ministry of Health is buying milk from abroad. Not suitable for global quality, in addition to being not recognized in the overseas market.

The source added that a report included important items against the Minister of Health revealing that the ministry used inferior varieties of baby milk that is distributed in Egypt and is not recognized in the most important baby milk supplier countries, namely France, America, Switzerland and Britain.

The source revealed that despite the Ministry of Health experts ’warnings about milk of unknown source for children and not known internationally, and that external laboratories do not recommend it, the Ministry of Health, based on the minister's approval, has purchased infant formula that does not meet international standards.

Although the Speaker of Parliament refused to investigate the Minister of Health, the supervisory authorities prepared a complete file to present to the Attorney General to expose the corruption of the Ministry of Health and senior officials in the Ministry, in addition to the fact that Parliament decided to discuss the crisis in the new session.

The source confirmed that the Prime Minister has seen recent reports and is thinking about how to get out of the crisis, and that the Minister of Health will be the first ministerial changes, and that there is a fear of completely dismissing the government due to the Minister of Health’s crisis.

The source ended his statement, saying, “The armed forces have intervened to solve the infant formula crisis, in addition to all the products of the armed forces being reviewed their validity on a timely basis and they are working to provide strategic goods to confront the monopoly.