Mohamed Awad Tag El-Din, Presidential Advisor for Health and Preventive Affairs, has confirmed that there is no epidemic spread of tuberculosis (TB) in Egypt, noting that tuberculosis has existed globally since ancient times.
Tag El-Din referred – in a statement to the Middle East News Agency – that the number of TB cases in Egypt is 9 or 10 cases per 100,000 citizens, a figure that is global, not just Egyptian.
Dr. Tag El-Din said that this disease never calls for any concern, pointing out that the rates are very normal and the cases are diagnosed in preventive medicine, which carries out its task in monitoring these cases, and examining them for all diseases, whether epidemic or non-epidemic, and free diagnosis and treatment are provided in all chest centers in Egypt.
He clarified that Egypt’s National Program for Tuberculosis Control is one of the most successful programs globally in terms of diagnosis and treatment and is a strong, successful program supported by all state institutions.
Dr. Tag El-Din highlighted the success of this program with the accurate data recorded by the World Health Organization from the Egyptian Ministry of Health, indicating that the program is achieving increasing successes.
He added that all tuberculosis medications and all means of diagnosis are dispensed free of charge to any infected citizen, whether pulmonary or extra-pulmonary TB, explaining that the patient needs a treatment period of up to 6 months according to the instructions of the scientific committee headed by “Dr. Awad Tag El-Din,” and that the treatment achieves great success at a high level.
He also noted that there are some cases infected with what is called drug-resistant tuberculosis microbes, and Egypt fully provides medications for these cases to achieve the best possible results.
He added that all provinces in Egypt have chest disease hospitals and chest treatment centers that provide complete services and include high-level trained and qualified medical staff capable of providing diagnosis and treatment.
