Egypt to treat muscular atrophy patients starting next week as per Sisi’s directives

CAIRO – 30 June 2021: Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi spoke about the country’s efforts to treat children suffering from muscle atrophy.

His remarks came as he checked on Wednesday vehicles and equipment used in development of villages included in the Haya Karima initiative.

He said the muscle atrophy treatment costs up to $3 million per child and Egypt is determined to secure it although many other countries cannot afford it.

“There are means for early detection of this disease in the early months of the child’s birth. If we knew that, there would be treatment, which costs up to $3 million per child,” El-Sisi said.

Attending the event, Health Minister Hala Zayed said 204 muscle atrophy cases have been detected in Egypt, of which more than 32 can be treated.

Egypt will start treating the muscle atrophy cases starting next week, Zayed noted.

The president called on the civil society organizations to take part in the initiative.

The minister also launched on Wednesday the national campaign to collect blood plasma for the purpose of manufacturing, saying it will start 15 July.

These derivatives are highly important and expensive, she noted.

By the end of the year, Egypt will have 20 centers for the blood plasma collection for manufacturing, the minister said.

On the country’s steps to produce the coronavirus vaccine, Zayed said China’s Sinovac has approved the possibility that Egypt produces 80 million doses of its coronavirus vaccine per six months.

Zayed said Egypt has produced on Tuesday its first 300,000 Sinovac coronavirus doses: VACSERA Sinovac, Made in Egypt.

Starting August,10-15 million Egypt-made vaccine doses will be available per month to vaccinate 40 million citizens by the end of the year, Zayed said.

Muscle atrophy

The Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) is a rare disorder and a neuromuscular issue that is usually diagnosed in infancy or early childhood and can likely cause death if left untreated.

The Ministry of Health affirmed that Egypt will start the treatment of 10 patients with muscular atrophy out of 32 at Nasser Institute and Ain Shams Hospital.

The ministry said that the drug used to treat cases of muscular atrophy is of high cost, and will be provided for treatment in Egypt.

The Egyptian Drug Authority earlier revealed the registration of the first drug in the Egyptian drug market for the treatment of muscle atrophy.

The EDA said the drug will contribute to reducing the suffering of patients, as well as eliminating the phenomenon of drug smuggling.

The complaints system of the government has recorded complaints of muscular atrophy patients, which prompted the authority to work as hard as possible in order to meet their demand.