The global burden of hepatitis C is particularly significant in low and middle-income countries like Egypt and Pakistan. With the support of the World Health Organization, both countries have achieved significant success in the screening and treatment of millions of individuals.
Hepatitis C is a severe global public health problem; around 71 million people worldwide live with the hepatitis C virus but most of the disease burden can be found in low and middle-income countries. In Egypt, the country with the highest burden of hepatitis C, 10% of the population aged 15â59 years (up to 10 million people)1 have a chronic infection. Pakistan has the second-highest infection rate2 with more than 12 million people.3 The high rate of hepatitis C in both countries stems from unsafe healthcare practices4 such as the misuse of intravenous injection needles, often without being aware of it. With the WHOâs call to eliminate hepatitis by 2030, the governments of Egypt and Pakistan have stepped up alongside other healthcare ecosystem partners to support the establishment of sustainable elimination programs to eliminate hepatitis C and provide robust and dependable diagnostic solutions.
Understanding the problem in Egypt
Egyptâs high rate of hepatitis cases stemmed from unsafe IV injection practices for the treatment of schistosomiasis, a disease caused by parasitic worms, from the 1950s to the 1980s.5,6Â In 2015, it was estimated that 6.3% of the population was living with hepatitis.7Â Faced with tremendous healthcare and economic burden, in 2006, Egyptâs Ministry of Health and Population (MOHP) created the National Committee for the Control of Viral Hepatitis (NCCVH) to help combat this vast epidemic.8Â With assistance from the World Health Organization (WHO), U.S. Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and other stakeholders, the MOHP released the âPlan of Action for the Prevention, Care & Treatment of Viral Hepatitis, Egypt, 2014-2018â as a set of guidelines to battle hepatitis C and other forms of hepatitis.8Â From 2014 to 2018, two million hepatitis patients were treated, but most of the infected were still undiagnosed. In 2018, Egypt embarked on an ambitious screening and treatment program, known as â100 million healthier livesâ, to detect and eliminate hepatitis by 2023.9Â Individuals positive for hepatitis antibodies were confirmed by PCR testing and treated with antiviral therapy.5Â With its current success in battling hepatitis, Egypt is now focusing on continued healthcare support, awareness, and education both locally and internationally.
Download the infographic on the hepatitis elimination program in Egypt here.
Developing hepatitis elimination programs in Pakistan
Lessons learned from Egyptâs hepatitis elimination strategies helped to shape Pakistanâs national hepatitis elimination program through collaborations with private and public stakeholders in the country. In 2019, the Pakistani government announced its hepatitis elimination program, with an ambitious goal to screen 138 million people by 2030. The use of high-throughput molecular PCR systems in northern, central and southern areas of Pakistan has been playing a key role in strengthening the diagnostics infrastructure across the country along with the development and delivery of health economic research and awareness campaign materials across various media platforms to support decision making. The disease elimination program included targeted activities and collaborations with local NGOs, conducting local clinical studies and rolling out of these awareness campaigns across the country.
Download the infographic on Pakistanâs hepatitis elimination program here.
Nationwide upsurge in hepatitis screening in Egypt and Pakistan
By the end of 2019, the hepatitis elimination program had wide success all over Egypt, and the number of hepatitis tests started to decrease accordingly. As of July 2020, Egypt had screened more than 60 million people for hepatitis. As of March 2022, over 460,000 people in Pakistan have been screened through the hepatitis control programs led by the provincial governments of Punjab and Sindh.
These impressive results demonstrate what can be achieved through a nationwide hepatitis screening, monitoring, and treatment campaign by a country with extensive domestic and international collaboration.
*The information contained in this article was extracted from Edition 2024, Vol 14.
