In a televised address to the World Health Organisation (WHO) meeting in Geneva to celebrate World Hepatitis Day on 28 July, Egypt’s Minister of Health and Population Khaled Abdel-Ghaffar said that Egypt looks forward to soon being officially recognised and accredited by regional and global health organisations as the first country to eliminate hepatitis C. The Minister’s remarks were reported in a Health Ministry statement.
World Hepatitis Day (WHD) is marked every year on 28 July. It brings the world together under a single theme to raise awareness of the global burden of viral hepatitis and to influence real change. In 2023 the theme was ‘We’re not waiting’. On its website, the World Health Organisation posted: “On World Hepatitis Day, we call on people around the world to take action because Hepatitis Can’t Wait”.
WHO’s global hepatitis strategy, endorsed by all WHO Member States, aims to reduce new hepatitis infections by 90 per cent, and deaths by 65 per cent between 2016 and 2030.
Impressive figures
Where Egypt is concerned, the figures are impressive. The country achieved remarkable success in combating hepatitis C by developing a comprehensive plan which diagnosed and treated nearly 4 million hepatitis C patients in less than five years, Dr Abdel-Ghaffar explained. The virus had already claimed between 40,000 to 50,000 Egyptian lives annually.
In the span of just seven months, Dr Abdel-Ghaffar said, more than 6,000 testing sites with diagnostic facilities were set up nationwide, where more than 60 million people, Egyptians and non-Egyptians, were tested free of charge.
Millions of doses of hepatitis C antiviral drugs were manufactured in Egyptian factories at competitive prices and used at more than 200 treatment centres to treat those diagnosed with the virus, he explained.
On its website, WHO cited the story of Egypt’s struggle against hepatitis C.
“Egypt had one of the highest rates of viral hepatitis in the world. Between the 1950s and 1980s, inadvertent infection transmission associated with unsafe injection practices occurred in the attempt to control schistosomiasis, a parasitic disease carried by water snails. Over 6 million Egyptians were infected with hepatitis C in this way. Thanks to years of coordinated government action, the country is now on the path to eliminate the disease. This is a remarkable transformation.
“From the early 1990s until now, the government has put vast effort into strengthening hepatitis prevention with programmes covering blood safety, infection control and injection safety. It also worked on raising public awareness and running harm reduction programmes. By 2015, 5.5 million people were estimated to be chronically infected. Motivated by a strong and ambitious aim to eliminate hepatitis C entirely, the government took action.”
Free testing and treatment
In 2006, Egypt introduced free testing and treatment for all, WHO said, by launching a network of specialised treatment centres and, with the new anti-viral medicines discovered in 2014, hepatitis testing and treatment were made accessible and free of charge for everyone. The approach followed WHO’s hepatitis treatment guidelines that highlight the risks of untreated disease and advocate for testing and treatment.
“In 2018, the government decided to implement a massive and unprecedented nationwide campaign, to detect and treat everyone with hepatitis C, escalating its elimination efforts. Years of work crystallised into the presidential initiative of 100 Million Healths [Healthy Lives] Campaign, which runs to this day, treating a host of other diseases in Egypt, Africa and Asia. [Launched in October 2018, the initiative was tasked with eradicating hepatitis and non-communicable diseases among Egyptians. The initiative included mass screenings of adult citizens for early detection of various diseases and viruses, including hepatitis C, diabetes, hypertension, and obesity.]
“Through the campaign, everyone over 18 was tested, later expanding to children 12 years and older. In addition to routine testing at all healthcare facilities, the campaign employed outreach in the community, with teams visiting big squares, markets, workplaces, sports clubs, universities, mosques and churches, and popular meeting places such as barbershops. Vulnerable communities such as refugees and migrants, and persons with disabilities were also included, in order to leave no one behind.
“The campaign was successful in reaching and testing over 60 million people with WHO-approved rapid diagnostic tests. During the campaign, 2.2 million people tested positive for hepatitis C antibodies and those with chronic hepatitis C received treatment. Patients were also assessed and treated for other chronic diseases, such as hypertension and diabetes. Since the campaign was launched, the hepatitis C cure rate in Egypt has exceeded 98 per cent.”
Into Africa and Asia
Dr Abdel-Ghaffar reaffirmed Egypt’s commitment to treat one million African hepatitis C patients and to expand efforts to eliminate viral hepatitis C in Africa, as part of the 100 Million Health initiative’s extended goals.
The Minister also highlighted Egypt’s role in eradicating hepatitis C in 2022 at the global level, explaining that Egypt participated in designing the first set of global guidelines for combating viral hepatitis C in 2021.
“Egypt will combine its efforts with the international community to eliminate viral hepatitis C by the year 2030,” the Minister said, in line with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals and WHO objectives.
He concluded his remarks by emphasising the cooperation between the Ministry of Health and the African Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (ACDCP). The ministry, he said, is planning an extensive programme to train African healthcare workers to treat hepatitis C in their home countries.
The most recent effort at global outreach took place on 28 July 2023 when Egypt sent Uzbekistan medical aid that consisted of 11 shipments for treatment of hepatitis C. Watani’s Iman Shawqy reports that Egypt’s ambassador to Tashkent, Amira Fahmy, attended an event held by the health authorities in Tashkent to mark receipt of the medical shipments; WHO representative participated too. This was the second year in succession for Egypt to send hepatitis C medical aid to Uzbekistan, to help reduce the long waiting lists for treatment.
WHO support
WHO has provided technical support to the Health Ministry in its work to battle hepatitis C. It acted as an independent verification agency, visiting screening sites nationwide and conducting extensive patient surveys, to ensure compliance with WHO guidelines and good quality services.
“Working closely with the Ministry of Health and Population and other partners ensures that people living with hepatitis C in Egypt are aware of their status and linked to treatment free of charge. This is a real step towards achieving universal health coverage,” said Dr Naeema Al Gasseer, WHO Representative to Egypt.
Watani International
30 July 2023