Egypt starts ‘historic’ hepatitis campaign

Egyptian authorities started yesterday what they termed the world’s largest medical survey for early detection of hepatitis C virus, a major health problem in the country.

Egypt ranks high in hepatitis infection. The first of the three-stage campaign got off the ground yesterday in nine of Egypt’s 27 governorates running until the end of November.

The second stage will start in December covering 11 governorates and the third in February in the remaining seven governorates. The drive, supported by the World Health Organisation and the World Bank, targets up to 52 million Egyptians.