Egypt to be free of Hepatitis C in 18 months: minister

CAIRO - 3 August 2017: A methodic plan has been developed to get rid of Hepatitis C virus in a year and a half, said Ahmed Emad, Minister of Health and Population in a press conference in the administrative capital.

The first phase of the plan was to treat waitlisted patients. “When we took office in December 2015, there were over half a million untreated patients,” Emad said.
“The biggest challenge right now is how to wipe out the virus entirely,” he added.

The cost of treatment has decreased from LE 12,000 ($672) to LE 1,525, said Emad, while treatment in foreign countries could cost upwards of $45,000.

Emad’s visit to the administrative capital is to conduct a comprehensive survey of Hepatitis C among workers. The visit also coincides with World Hepatitis Day.

The survey will be conducted by 15 teams from the Preventive Medicine Sector, with every team consisting of a doctor and a person in charge of entering the data, said Khaled Megahed, the official spokesperson of the ministry.

The ministry has already surveyed 900 villages in 9 governorates (an estimated 2.4 million people) in northern Egypt with the rest of the villages being surveyed before the end of 2017, Megahed added.

He added that Egypt will become Hepatitis C-free by the end of 2018.