‘100 Million Seha’ initiative saved lives of 2.2. M Egyptians during COVID-19 pandemic: Health Minister

 

CAIRO – 8 April 2021:  Egypt’s initiative of  “100 Million Seha” (100 Million Healthy Lives) for eliminating the virus C and detecting non-communicable diseases has saved millions of Egyptian lives during the coronavirus pandemic, said Minister of Health Hala Zayed on Thursday.

 

“We treated 2.2 million people infected with C virus. If we did not succeed in eradicating Hepatitis C disease, about 2.2 million Hepatitis C patients could die if they were infected with coronavirus because of the danger of the coronavirus virus to the liver patient,” said Zayed in her speech at a human rights conference titled “Building a Post-Pandemic World...A Comprehensive Approach to Human Rights” and organized by the Egyptian Center for Strategic Studies (ECSS).

 

“The coronavirus Pandemic is the biggest test for all countries and shows their capabilities in dealing with human health,” she added, noting that the post-pandemic world must redefine human rights and reset human rights priorities.

 

Egypt was keen on curing all hepatitis C patients without discrimination between Egyptians and non-Egyptians, Zayed said, continuing “We provided anti-coronavirus vaccines for Egyptians and non-Egyptians without discrimination.”

 

In terms of non-discrimination, Egypt has brough a translator for an old German patient and lived with her for a week in order to help her communicate with the hospital staff, she said.

 

The Minister continued that the UN Secretary-General praised Egypt’s public health initiatives as the largest and most successful campaign in human history in terms of quality and scale. 

 

“Egypt is working on early detecting the disease of hearing loss and impairment at birth to prevent hearing loss in children,” she added, saying “One of Egypt’s Health initiatives is the protection of mothers’ health and their fetuses to detect AIDS and syphilis which can be transmitted to the fetus. Such diseases can be treated without affecting pregnancy.”

 

“We provided all health and medical services to prison inmates. We established prison treatment centers and drug addiction treatment centers where self-destructing syringes are being used, she said.

 

The world, particularly in some developed countries, has lost millions of lives due to the neglect of health caring, Zayed said, adding that Egypt supported the medical staff financially, psychologically and politically.

 

Egypt and Japan, which did not apply a full closure since the outbreak of the pandemic, have recorded a small number of coronavirus deaths in comparison with other developed countries, Hala Zayed.

 

“Our visits to China and Italy during the first wave of the pandemic were humanitarian messages not because those countries were in need,” said Zayed.

 

Egypt provided health and supply assistance, including baby formula, to more than 22 African countries, Hala Zayed.