4.5 percent of examined Egyptians tested positive for Hepatitis C: Min.

CAIRO – 21 November 2018:Minister of Health and Population HalaZayed said that the tests carried out as part of Egypt’s national campaign’s first stage revealed that 4.5 percent of the examined citizens tested positive for Hepatitis C.

This came during the minister’s visit to Fayoum governorate, which is one of the ninegovernorates included in the first stage. The campaign dubbed “100 million Health” comes as part of Egypt’s aspiration to end Hepatitis C in Egypt by 2020.

Zayed said that citizens are aware of the situation. She stressed that Hepatitis C, diabetes and obesity accounted for 70 percentof the causes of death in Egypt.

Zayed said that great efforts will be exerted to fight obesity, as it causes a lot of deadly diseases. A large campaign will be prepared to be broadcast on television, Zayed stressed, adding that the ministry will cooperation with the minister of higher educationto be able to implement the campaign inside universities.

About 10 million citizens were examined for Hepatitis C within 90 days, Khaled Megahed, the Health Ministry spokesman said, adding in an interview with Al-Nahar on Monday that preliminary results showed that 400,000 people tested positive for the blood-borne virus.

He said that patients are directed to get free treatment. He revealed that 6,000 citizens receive the treatment weekly, adding that the ministry is looking forward to sending treatment to 20 -25,000 patients per week.

In October, Health Minister Zayed said that the campaign would run from October 1 to the end of April 2019, stressing that patients would receive treatment for one to one and a half year, to announce Egypt free from the blood-borne disease by 2020 or 2021.


Citizens above 18 years of age of both sexes will be targeted during the first phase, she pointed out, explaining that they will test for hepatitis C, diabetes and hypertension. Height and weight of citizens will also be measured for obesity as part of the campaign which will provide free treatment, Zayed reiterated.