The World Health Organization announced on October 9th that Egypt has become the first country to reach the “gold level” in the elimination of Hepatitis C, also known as the Hepatitis C virus, according to the organization’s standards.
This achievement follows an official campaign that began in the early 2000s and peaked with the launch of a national campaign by the Egyptian government in 2014 to eradicate the disease.
However, Egypt’s efforts have not stopped there. According to a report by The New York Times, Egypt has begun aiding other African countries in eliminating the disease by sending medical aid for treatment.
For seven years, Ghanaian teacher Solomon Musa, a 27-year-old residing in Accra, has been saving part of his meager income to battle Hepatitis C, forsaking his dreams and ambitions due to financial constraints.
In March, he received welcome news from his doctor about donations of medical treatments for Hepatitis C from Egypt, allowing him to receive treatment for free.
Indeed, within weeks, Musa received the medication, and his blood test in October showed he was completely cured of the disease.
World Health Organization statistics reveal that there are 58 million people living with Hepatitis C globally. Although there is no vaccine for the disease, it can be cured with short-term, highly effective treatments lasting 8-12 weeks.
Additionally, four out of five people living with Hepatitis C worldwide are unaware of their infection, which can lead to liver disease or cancer if not treated or cured.
Egypt diagnosed 87% of those living with the disease and provided curative treatment to 93% of those diagnosed, surpassing the WHO’s gold-level standards of diagnosing at least 80% of those with Hepatitis C and providing treatment to at least 70% of those diagnosed.
The New York Times noted that Egypt has not only focused on eradicating the disease within its borders but also utilized its victory in a campaign of “health diplomacy,” pledging to donate medications and share its expertise to treat one million patients across the African continent.
Egyptian Health Minister Khaled Abdel Ghaffar commented that the Egyptian government “saw an opportunity to share its expertise beyond its borders and contribute to international health efforts,” adding that “this health diplomacy allows Egypt to benefit from its success in treating Hepatitis C for the greater good of humanity and to enhance its international standing.”
World Health Organization statistics indicate that around 300,000 people die annually from complications of Hepatitis C, particularly liver cirrhosis and cancer.
The organization stated that Egypt has transformed from having one of the highest infection rates globally to one of the lowest, dropping to 0.38% from 10% in just over a decade.
Egypt chose Ghana as its first partner in combating the disease, given Ghana’s investment in building national healthcare.
Yvonne Agyarko Nartey, a Ghanaian doctor at the Cape Coast Teaching Hospital, worked to identify the number of people infected in her country and their locations.
Through medical screenings, she discovered that one in every 20 people in northern Ghana is infected with Hepatitis C.
Her next step was to announce the arrival of treatment through local radio broadcasts and Facebook and WhatsApp applications.
The first batch of Egyptian medications was en route to Ghana, but the next challenge was daunting, as Ghana has fewer than 20 liver specialists. Nartey immediately started training programs for doctors in each region.
She told The New York Times, “Most of them had never treated Hepatitis C before because it wasn’t treated here.”
She noted that the first batch of Egyptian drugs would treat about 46,000 patients, leaving 300,000 in need of treatment, adding, “That’s a big number, but we are ambitious.”
Egypt is also working on parallel programs to combat Hepatitis C in other African countries, such as Sudan and Chad, according to the American newspaper.
