At least five million people in Egypt are infected with the hepatitis C virus (HCV).
– The annual infection rate is more than 70,000 new cases, of which at least 35,000 would have chronic hepatitis C, said Dr Manal el-Sayed, Professor of Paediatrics at Cairo’s Ain Shams University and member of the National Hepatitis Committee.
Hepatitis C is a lethal virus which can cause liver cirrhosis and cancer. Egypt has one of the highest prevalence rates of the virus in the world, say specialists.
An estimated 10-15 percent of the population, some 8-10 million people, are carrying hepatitis C antibodies, meaning that they either have or at one time had the virus.
Five million of those are actively infected, according to government figures.
No vaccine is available for HCV although it can be treated with a combination of drugs if detected early enough.
Egypt’s very high prevalence of HCV is largely the legacy of government campaigns prior to 1980 to treat rural populations for schistosomiasis (or bilharzia).
The treatment campaigns, which involved repeated injections, did not follow rigorous hygiene standards such as disinfected syringes, thus spreading blood-borne HCV throughout the population.
As it may take up to 30 years for a patient to display symptoms of HCV or for the disease to become active, the full extent of the problem has only recently become known.
In addition to cases among the older population, new infections are still being recorded, due to poor medical practices and behavioural factors. Deaths from liver disease are, therefore, expected to increase in Egypt within the next 20 years.
Egypt’s hepatitis committee is now making plans to prevent and treat hepatitis C. Treatment of HCV is usually done with a drug called Interferon.
However, the most typical type of HCV in Egypt has about a 40 percent resistance to the drug. Although research is ongoing, no more effective treatment is yet available.
The financial burden of Egypt’s HCV problem is huge. The committee estimates that of the five million people actively infected with the virus, around one million currently need treatment.
A year’s treatment for a person with signs of liver damage from HCV costs around US $4,500 (knap 26.000 d. kr.) – a sum few can afford.
In January this year, the committee began fundraising activities with the help of NGOs and international organisations including USAID, the World Health Organisation and UNICEF. The committee hopes to be able to provide free treatment to those most in need.
Due to the cost and difficulty of treating chronic HCV patients, promoting awareness to prevent the disease, and detecting those infected before they develop liver damage are critical factors.
Many people share razors and re-use syringes. They see no harm in just washing them and using them again. So there is a big behavioural component.
Kilde: www.irinnews.org
