“Now you can receive treatment from Hepatitis C in Egypt, and at the same time enjoy Egypt’s antiquities and landmarks. At 95 per cent recovery rate from the disease, Egypt is the first country in the global cure rate and the number of patients treated.” So runs the Tour n’ Cure medical programme, Egypt’s latest initiative in medical tourism offering the opportunity to treat hepatitis C with the most recent, advanced therapies worldwide and no waiting time.
During her visit to Egypt in October 2016, World Health Organisation (WHO) Director-General Margaret Chan praised Egypt’s outstanding achievement in treatment of hepatitis C, especially the country’s manufacture of medication which it offered to patients at the lowest price in the world.
Tour n’ cure
Tour n’ Cure provides hepatitis C patients, the worldover, with an effective and affordable treatment package. The package includes as well the opportunity to take in the beauty of Egypt and visit historical landmarks as the patient undergoes treatment while accommodated at a 5-star hotel.
Tour n’ Cure has partnered with a selection of state-of-the-art hospitals honoured with numerous awards and recognitions by international organisations; among them the Egyptian Air Force Hospital and Sharm al-Sheikh International Hospital. It also collaborated with PharcoCorporation, one of the leading pharmaceutical manufacturers in the Middle East, which manufactures themedication used in the treatment of hepatitis C in line with the latest international standards for Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) of the pharmaceutical industry.
Patients who decide to take the Tour n’ Cure programme can book through the website http://tourncure.com/. They are welcomed at the airport once they arrive, and areled to their place of accommodation and introduced to the medical centre or hospital which would handle their treatment. The necessary analyses and investigation are conducted and the treatment determined and applied. Some 750 medical specialists and consultants qualified in the international treatment protocols of hepatitis C are on hand to handle the treatment programmes.
During the treatment, a guided one-week touristprogramme is arranged for the patients.
Even after they go back home, the patients are followed-up through mobile apps or websites.
On http://tourncure.com/ Egyptian hepatologists posted their comments on the programme. “In Egypt, we chose to accelerate the eradication of HCV,” Dr Imam Waked, Professor of Medicine and Hepatologyat the National Liver Institute (NLI), Menoufiya University, said.
“We are happy to extend our scientific expertise in hepatology to patients from all over the world,” Dr GamalEsmat, Professor of Hepatology and Endemic Medicine at Cairo University, proudly posted.
Highest incidence, highest treatment
According to WHO statistics, Egypt has the highest incidence of Hepatitis C in the world. Within the year ending January 2017, the Health Ministry announced, some 942,000 Egyptian patients were treated at a cost of more than EGP3 billion; 550,000 of those patients received treatment at the expense of the State, whereas 262,000 were treated at the cost of the national health insurance programme, and 25,000 at the cost of military and police. Some 105,000 were treated as private patients. The target is a country free of hepatitis C by 2025; the WHO target is a world free of hepatitis C by 2030.
To promote medical tourism in Egypt in general and the Tour n’ Cure programme in specific, the EgyptianHealth Ministry has invited well-known international figures to visit Egypt. Among them is Argentinean football player and FC Barcelona, Lionel Messi, who will be arriving Wednesday 15 February 2017.
Other medical tourism programmes offered by the Health Ministry include treatment of rheumatism and rheumatoid, as well asof skin diseases such as eczema. Patients can explore healing spots in Egypt such as the natural hot springs ofOyounMoussa and RasSidr in the Sinai,Siwa, andMarsaMatrouh, as well as the sulphuric wells and springs in Wadi al-Gadeed, and Aswan. The hospital inSafaga on the Red Sea boasts a medical centre specialised innatural treatment.