Egypt’s Prime Minister Mustafa Madbouli held a meeting with Minister of Health Hala Zayed on Tuesday to follow up on President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi’s decision to launch an initiative aimed at treating one million African nationals, an action announced at the close of the Arab-African Youth Forum in Aswan.
The cabinet’s spokesperson Nader Saad clarified that Madbouli asked the government to take urgent measures to relaunch the initiative of treating African nationals and refugees who could possibly be infected with hepatitis C.
Saad added that Zayed briefed the health ministry’s plan, asserting that the ministry would present the foreign embassies and consulates in Egypt with names and addresses of the hospitals participating in the initiative.
Zayed also presented the ministry’s plan to send therapeutic convoys to various African countries.
Egypt launched the “100 million healthy lives” screening campaign in 2018 targeting people aged 19 to 59 for scans by PCR tests. Those who test positive for the disease are expected to undergo further check-ups and will be provided free medication.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
