Ministry of Health: Egypt advances toward tuberculosis elimination, offers free treatment

Egypt is making steady progress toward eliminating tuberculosis while continuing to provide free treatment for both citizens and migrants, the Ministry of Health said on the sidelines of the 79th World Health Assembly in Geneva.

Ministry of Health Spokesman Hossam Abdel Ghaffar said Egypt’s national tuberculosis program is aligned with Egypt Vision 2030 and focuses on sustainable domestic funding and equal access to healthcare services.

He noted that the government now covers more than 95% of the program’s costs through the state budget, ensuring the continued availability of first- and second-line medications.

Meanwhile, Wagdy Amin, head of the chest diseases department, said the tuberculosis infection rate had dropped from 27 cases per 100,000 people in 2000 to around 10 currently, attributing the decline to improved healthcare infrastructure, expanded screening and the use of modern molecular diagnostic technologies.

He added that future plans include introducing artificial intelligence in X-ray analysis and expanding treatment protocols for drug-resistant cases as part of efforts to fully eradicate the disease.

In 2024, Egypt’s Ministry of Health and Population has unveiled a comprehensive new strategy to eliminate tuberculosis (TB) by 2030, aligning with both the Sustainable Development Goals and Egypt’s Vision 2030. The announcement marks preparations for World TB Day 2025, which will focus on the theme “Commitment, Investment, and Implementation.”

Hossam Abdel Ghaffar, spokesperson for the Ministry, explained that the strategy’s goals include increasing TB case detection rates to over 90%, improving the identification of drug-resistant TB to more than 80%, and achieving a treatment success rate exceeding 90%. The ministry also aims to reduce TB incidence to less than half of its 2015 levels.