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 "I thought, 'I should go too'," Mabrouk said, speaking at a clinic
in the Mit Nama village near Cairo before learning she did not have
the virus.
Egypt, which has the highest rate of hepatitis C in the world, is
carrying out an unprecedented campaign to detect and treat the
disease in a bid to eliminate it by 2022. It aims to test the entire
adult population -- about 50 million people.
Nearly 4.4 percent of adult Egyptians are infected and about 40,000
die of the disease every year, making it the country's third leading
cause of death, according to the World Bank.
The campaign, which runs from October to April, also tests for
diabetes and high blood pressure.
"They are eliminating Egypt's two biggest health problems: Virus C
and all the danger factors including the basic non-communicable
diseases," said Jean Jabbour, the World Health Organization's
representative in Egypt.
Hepatitis C is a liver disease caused by a blood-borne virus. Most
cases can be cured with antiviral medicine, but many do not
initially show symptoms. If left untreated the virus can cause
cirrhosis or liver cancer.
In Egypt, many were infected decades ago when poorly sterilized
needles were used as part of a national treatment campaign against
schistosomiasis, a disease caused by parasitic worms.
Most donated blood is still not effectively screened, according to a
recent World Bank report.
At least 11.5 million people have been screened in the new campaign,
with 5 percent testing positive.
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Large banners bearing health information and a picture of President
Abdel Fattah al-Sisi appeared in many Cairo streets as the campaign
came to the capital on Saturday.
The campaign, which also treats those infected for free, is mainly
funded by the World Bank. The bank has provided $133 million for the
tests and $129 million for the treatment, according to a cabinet
statement.
Due to lack of health clinics, some churches, mosques and youth
centers also offer the blood test.
A church in the village of Begam, which like the Mit Nama village is
in the Qalyubia province north of Cairo, serves as a health clinic
every Sunday.
"This initiative should have taken place much, much earlier, but it
is good that the president thought of it now," said Ashyaa Abd al-Sayed,
pastor at the church.
Unless the population is tested and treated in a single campaign,
the disease won't be eliminated, said Health Minister Hala Zayed.
"If you only test and treat parts of the population... then those
who weren't treated might infect others," she said.
Globally, an estimated 71 million people suffer chronically from
hepatitis C.
(Reporting by Mahmoud Mourad and Lena Masri; editing by Aidan Lewis
and Louise Heavens)
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