In the light of Egypt assuming the presidency of the African Union (AU) for a one-year term, its government has been making promises to its African counterparts in hopes of restoring the African mother’s trust. Egypt, spearheaded by its President Abdelfattah Al-Sisi, aims to use the AU’s resources to solve African issues and put Africa on the sustainable development path.
Africa has been long plagued by a number of diseases, but one of the most prominent causes of death is Hepatitis with all of its varieties. The viral infection affects around 70 million people in Africa and has lead to countless deaths.
Egypt has suffered as well, but recently, the country has been taking positive steps combating the disease. In fact, in the past, it used to be considered an incurable disease, but with the introduction of the latest therapeutic technique and making it available to the underprivileged for free, the country is about to eradicate it.
Now, Egypt plans to share this knowledge with its Nile Basin sister countries and help train medical professionals all over the African continent to combat the spread of both Hepatitis and Malaria. The program, which was announced by the Minister of Health Hala Zayed in a Parliamentary session, includes bringing other countries’ doctors and update them on present day medical procedures.
The minister has also mentioned that Egypt’s treatment program costs around USD 50 to 120, while other countries could spend from USD 28,000 to 80,000 to treat the same disease. Such discrepancy gives Egypt enough experience worth sharing with the world.
According to an informative report by Egypt Today, the Director of Tanta University, Dr. Magdy Sabaa has stated that five agreements have been signed with universities in Nigeria. In addition, another cooperation pact between Kenya and Egypt will allow the latter to supervise two of the former’s hospitals. Sudan has got in on the action and sent a delegation to Tanta University to discuss training programs for doctors and nurses.
Due to the proven success of Egyptian drugs, African countries have stressed their importance and technological edge. It is also worth mentioning that Egypt has taken groundbreaking steps with its ‘100 Million Seha’ campaign, encouraging the public to undergo free medical check-ups of Hepatitis and other diseases. According to the Ministry of Health, 29.5 million citizens have undergone the program between October 2018 and January 2019.
Since its launch, ‘100 Million Seha’ helped diagnose them treat about 1.4 million citizens infected with Hepatitis C, and the Ministry of Health hopes that 1.5 million Egyptians will be fully cured by 2019.