A total of 42,000 patients with hepatitis C have been treated so far at state expense in Delta’s Beheira governorate, Youm7 quoted Wednesday Alaa Othman, Undersecretary Health Ministry in the governorate.
Othman said in his statements that the governorate is planning to end waiting lists of patients by August 2016.
He also noted that around 14 new liver treatment centers were opened in different hospitals in the governorate, and that other centers will also be inaugurated in the coming period.
The Ministry of Health previously announced that the treatment of 300,000 Hep C patients is expected to be finalized by June 2016, and that around 180,000 have been cured so far across nationwide.
It was recently announced that thousands of locally-made medicines to cure Hep C, Sovaldi, and Daklinza will be sent soon to health insurance centers, in addition to providing the centers with Hepatitis B medicines to start treating patients via the state’s insurance system within two months.
One out of 10 of Egypt’s population aged 15-59 is infected, according to the World Health Organization; the government has embarked on a vigorous campaign to put an end to this high prevalence in 2014.
The campaign has successfully increased the number of liver treatment centers across the country, subsidized regimens, and started producing several liver-related drugs to further reduce their prices.
The government hopes to cure some 500,000 patients in 2016 using domestically produced regimens.
