Egypt's acting health min., Cuban amb. discuss boosting cooperation

CAIRO - 18 April 2022: Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research and Acting Health Minister Khaled Abdel Ghaffar praised the depth and strength of Egyptian-Cuban relations.

He asserted the importance of boosting cooperation between Egypt and Cuba in the fields of health and scientific research to improve the health services presented for the citizens of both countries.

This came during Abdel Ghaffar's meeting with Cuban Ambassador to Egypt Tania Aguiar Fernandez to discuss means to boost cooperation between both countries in all the health domains.

During the meeting, Abdel Ghaffar asserted the importance of benefiting from the expertise of Cuba in the fields of medicine and public health, pointing out that Cuba owns the most distinguished health systems around the world, Spokesman for the Health Ministry Hossam Abdel Ghaffar said.

The meeting tackled means to promote cooperation in the fields of scientific research and benefit from the cadres and scientific and research expertise via research institutions and centers in both countries to contribute to the community and support decision makers, the spokesman said.

Both sides asserted the importance of exchanging scientific and professional expertise between the two countries, he added.

The meeting took up exchanging student missions from the faculties of medicine in addition to exchanging doctors to reach the highest benefit, he said.

Meanwhile, Fernandez thanked Abdel Ghaffar for his keenness on cooperating with Cuba to improve the fields of public health and scientific research, asserting her country's keenness on cooperating with Egypt in the different domains. 

Under the 100 Million Health Initiative to eradicate Hepatitis C in Egypt, 1,719,602 million first graders in preparatory schools have been examined since the beginning of the initiative on November 21, the Health Ministry said in a Friday statement.

Hossam Abdel Ghaffar, a spokesperson for the ministry said that medical tests would be carried out for the next five years for first graders in preparatory school to protect the coming generations from Hepatitis C under President Abdel Fattah El Sisi's directives.

The health survey is targeting 2.5 million students in the first grade during the current academic year, Abdel Ghaffar said, adding that the ministry set 419 medical teams in 27 governates to ensure all the targeted students done their examinations.

Abdel Ghaffar attended the launch of the construction work of a logistic vaccine refrigeration complex at the factory complex of the Egyptian Holding Company for Biological Products and Vaccines (VACSERA) in the Sixth of October city.

The launching ceremony was attended by Chinese Ambassador to Egypt Liao Liqiang and other senior officials.

During the ceremony, the minister said today also marks a year of establishing strategic partnership between China’s Sinovac and Egypt’s VACSERA in the field of vaccine manufacturing, which resulted in the production of 30 million doses of VACSERA-Sinovac coronavirus vaccine.

Under this partnership, plans have been outlined to transfer the manufacturing technology of various types of vaccines and serums and cooperation was established to prepare the cooling facility for vaccine storage and preservation, he added.

Abdel Ghaffar said the cooling complex is established in accordance with the World Health Organization's standards, accommodating 150 million doses of vaccine.

It will also help store and preserve raw material, going in line with the State’s strategy to turn Egypt into a hub for vaccine production and meet the requirements of the African countries from vaccines, he said.

The fully-automated cold storage facility is established on an area of 3,200 km2 with future expansions hitting 1,000 additional meters, the minister said.

Abdel Ghafar added that fruitful cooperation with the Chinese side helped place the Egyptian State among the six African leading countries in the vaccine manufacturing technology field.