Egypt Health Ministry to launch anti-Hep C campaign

Egyptian labourers line up for an examination check-up for Hepatitis C, at a construction site in Egypt's new "administrative capital", some 40 kms east of Cairo on August 3, 2017. Egypt has the highest prevalence of Hepatitis C infections in the world, an epidemic that started with a government program for mass vaccinations with unsterilised syringes in the 1950s, with seven percent of Egyptians between the ages of 15 and 59 having an active infection according to the country's 2015 Demographics and Health Surveys. / AFP PHOTO / KHALED DESOUKI (Photo credit should read KHALED DESOUKI/AFP/Getty Images)

Minister of Health Hala Zayed said on Sunday that her ministry would launch an anti-Hepatitis C campaign in October 1, aiming to “eliminate the virus by 2020” by “detecting the early symptoms of pressure, diabetes, and obesity diseases which cause 70 percent of deaths”.

During a press conference with Minister of Municipal Development Mahmoud Sahrawi and representatives of the World Bank (WB), Zayed added that the campaign will be divided into three stages.

The first stage, from October to November, will focus on nine governorates.

The second stage will include 11 governorates from December to February 2019, while the third will take place from March until the end of April 2019, including 7 governorates.

The Ministry of Youth and Sport have provided 51 locations to carry out the medical check-ups, Zayed continued, adding that the campaign involves some 5000 staff across 1114 locations.

Each location contains 5 staff, with at least one physician, statistical employee and administrator.

Patients can contact the call center by dialing 335, to have any questions about the campaign answered, Zayed added.

Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm.