CARE International official Ghada Ezz Eddin on Monday said Egypt suffers from high rates of hepatitis C, and that AIDS could be considered an epidemic in Egypt.
CARE specializes in development and fighting global poverty.
Ezz Eddin spoke at a workshop sponsored by CARE in collaboration with the Egyptian AIDS Society and the Egyptian Journalists Syndicate’s Alexandria branch.
Egypt's Health Ministry in 2009 estimated that nearly 4000 Egyptians were infected with AIDS, according to Ezz Eddin, who added that there are 1078 proven cases of AIDS in Egypt.
Ezz Eddin stressed that these figures are based on Ministry of Health examinations of patients, implying that accurate data is not available.
According to UN 2008 statistics, around 33.2 million globally are infected with AIDS, said Ezz Eddin. The infection is spread by blood transmissions, sexual activity, and from breastfeeding, according to the UN.
Translated from the Arabic Edition.
