The World Health Organization launched on Tuesday a national campaign to combat the spread of viral hepatitis through the promotion of safe and healthy injections.
Attending the ceremonies marking the World Hepatitis Day (28 July) in Cairo, WHO’s Eastern Mediterranean director, Alaa-Eddin Alwan, said the project would represent a cornerstone for all efforts to control virus C, and a turning point in combating the disease in Egypt, India and Uganda.
Egyptian Health Minister Adel al-Adawy said the project seeks to entirely eradicate the disease, adding that Egypt currently works on producing its own syringes, the main means of transmission of the disease.
According to Adawy, “safe injecting” or “self-destructing injections” would help eliminate the disease which, he said, infects 150.000 Egyptians per year.
Henk Bekedam, WHO’s Cairo representative, said he is being contacted by several countries asking to share the Egyptian experience in combating the disease which, he said, has resulted in a highly-accurate and fruitful treatment scheme.
According to WHO, the Hepatitis C kills 40,000 people in Egypt annually.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
