Egyptian Health Minister Hala Zayed announced on Friday that 9.8 million Egyptians have been screened within the second stage of the “100 million healthy lives” presidential initiative against the Hepatitis C virus and other noncommunicable diseases. Zayed added that the total number of screened persons reached 22.7 million until December 27, clarifying that the ministry would treat all patients at no charge. Alexandria governorate ranked first after the number of screened students reached 110,226, followed by 103,453 persons in Beheira, 81,638 persons in Asyut, and 80,252 persons in Qalyubia. Egypt has the highest rate of Hepatitis C in the world, first surfacing in the 1950s due to unsterilized injections. In February, Barcelona player Lionel Messi praised the success of Egypt’s program to treat the hepatitis C virus.

Source: Egypt Independent December 27, 2018 15:11 UTC