Egypt hand by hand with Pakistan to fight hepatitis c

Inspired by Egypt’s success to treat 90 percent of the hepatitis c patients during the past five years in its journey to eliminate the disease within a few years, Pakistan is determined to join hands to fight the disease.

Health scientists and medical experts in Pakistan announced on Saturday to join hands with Egypt by sending Pakistani young healthcare professionals for the training in advanced gastroenterology and other procedures of digestive system as well as management and treatment of liver cancer.

The announcement was made at the 4th Annual Conference of Pak GI and Liver Disease Society (PGLDS) where Egyptian experts shared their country’s successful experience in managing to treat hepatitis c patients. They offered to train Pakistani professionals in controlling the viral hepatitis and training youngsters in the area of advanced endoscopy and treatment of liver diseases.

“Egypt has successfully treated 90pc of its hepatitis patients and now we are working on prevention of new infections as well as reinfections to occur,” Egyptian gastroenterologist Prof. Essam Bedewy said at the conference.

“Our government conducted mass screening free of charge and provided free medicines. We can help Pakistan controlling the menace of viral hepatitis, training of their healthcare professionals and capacity building.” Bedewy added.

PGLDS president Lubna Kamani announced that Pakistani physicians and students would be sent to Egyptian institutions for the training as PGLDS was working hard to promote culture of research and training in the field of gastroenterology.

“For training opportunities, PGLDS is signing a deal with Egyptian Society of Gastroenterology for training of young healthcare professionals in the field of advanced endoscopy and other latest procedures,” added Kamani.