Health Min. measures to effectuate outcomes of anti-HCV campaign

CAIRO – 21 July 2018: Amongst the health reforms that were initiated by President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi was the national strategy to cure Hepatitis C and help combat its spread.

Waheed Dous, head of the National Committee for Combating Viral Viruses at the Ministry of Health, said that the new strategy is mainly premised on developing new and more effective approaches to expand medical field inspections so that they can include 45 million people at a cost of LE 2.23 million.

He added that 2.15 million patients were fully cured, contending that the strategy also takes care of ensuring that anti Hepatitis c treatment protocols are made available in the country’s health units.

“President Sisi emphasized on the importance of early detection of diseases to prevent the unwanted escalations of the infections,” he added.

Since the launch of the national anti-HCV program in 2014, 1.4 million citizens infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV) have been treated, and the government is still looking for 1.5 million more to be fully cured during 2018.

By the year of 2022, Egypt will be HCV-free, announced Yehiya el-Shazly, president of the National Committee for Fighting Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) Infections, about a year ago.

The epidemic prevalence of HIV boils down to the use of improperly discharged syringe needles during state-led campaigns launched in the 1960s and 1970s against Schistosoma (also known as snail fever and bilharzia).

Under the directives of President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi, the Health Ministry announced a comprehensive strategy to eliminate HCV after infection rates were at their highest in Egypt by 2014, according to the World Health Organization, which cited that HCV kills 400,000 Egyptians a year.