Dr. Yehia al-Shazly of the National Viral Hepatitis Committee said that 90,000 Hepatitis C patients have been treated in Egypt in the last eight months versus 150,000 patients in the the rest of the world during the same period.
At a conference on Saturday, Shazly announced a plan to treat patients in 20 governorates who are unable to pay for the treatment.
“The World Health Organization estimated 18 million hepatitis C patients in Egypt, which is the largest number in the world,” he said. “Egypt will be the first country to eliminate the virus with treatment, as opposed to prevention.”
For his part, Dr. Serag Zakaria of the Faculty of Medicine said the government alone cannot eliminate the virus. “We need the participation of civil society and businessmen,” he said.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
