By pure accident, I came across an episode of “In Egyptian Meantime” on BBC Arabic discussing a new medication produced by an Egyptian pharmaceutical company that can treat hepatitis C more effectively, more quickly and at a lower cost than others. Infection with the hepatitis C virus (HCV) is the most common type of hepatitis in Egypt, which has a particularly high prevalence of HCV infection. As a former sufferer of this accursed virus, I was thrilled at this news. I had begun to read and watch everything I could get hold of on this disease when I myself was afflicted with it, and I continued to keep track of the heroic battle to eradicate the epidemic after I recovered. But as I tried to learn more about the new medication, I found that some commentators did not rate it highly. So I decided to turn to the experts, starting with those whom I had the honour to know and had personally benefited from their skill and scientific know-how. This led me first to Dr Ahmed Al-Raie, the outstanding physician who expertly managed my battle with the virus, then to the eminent scientist Dr Imam Wakid, whom I was able to consult thanks to an introduction from the late Ibrahim Badran, and finally to Gamal Esmat, with whom I had the honour to work when he was deputy dean of the University of Cairo and who had encouraged me to benefit from the programme of the National Committee for the Control of Viral Hepatitis. It was thanks to this advice that, by the grace of God, I was cured. Prior to this, I had undergone surgery in the form of a liver transplant that, although successful, I had feared would still leave the newly implanted organ victim to the predations of the virus. I then read an interview on the website Fajr with Sherine Helmi, director of the company that produces the above-mentioned medication. From this, I learned that the story had begun nine years ago when an American pharmaceutical firm began to produce a medication to treat the virus. The firm conducted pre-clinical tests, toxicity studies and the first phase of the clinical studies, at which point an Egyptian company, Farco, purchased 61 per cent of the shares in the American company and completed the second and third phases of the clinical studies in Egypt, where 300 people infected by HCV were involved. According to the findings, there was a 100 per cent success rate after 12 weeks with patients who had suffered no liver fibrosis, and a 97 per cent success rate after 24 weeks with patients who had suffered liver fibrosis. Gamal Esmat said that he and others had advised pharmaceutical companies in the past to establish scientific labs in Egypt instead of just focussing on marketing. The fact that this company entered the field of pharmaceutical research and development in the country and conducted clinical tests here that proved successful marks a victory. Dr Wakid added that this was the first time that an Egyptian pharmaceutical company had engaged in research of this sort, which cost some LE20 million. In addition, the results of the studies were submitted to the most important scientific conferences in the world: the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases in November 2015 and the European Association for the Study of Liver Diseases this past April. The first conference voted the Egyptian study the best study it had seen. No less important than the foregoing is the fact that the Egyptian medicine is affordable. It costs only $300 compared to $80,000 for earlier treatments, according to the director of the company producing it. In addition, this is the first time that the active ingredient of the medication has been manufactured in Egypt. Furthermore, the Egyptian company intends to continue its research here in order to derive medicines that can cure all strains of the virus, from Malaysia and Thailand to the Ukraine and South Africa. It now plans to enter into the scientific research race for cancer remedies. For me personally, this achievement has offered me the opportunity to gloat at interferon, a serum that the new medication makes it possible to dispense with entirely. In Egypt, millions of people have been afflicted with this virus. But God Almighty has now bestowed on Egypt's people the blessings of science. Through my own ordeal with HCV, I was afforded the opportunity to become acquainted with an outstanding collection of human beings who combine the finest scientific minds with humanitarian hearts and who have fought to defend the health of their fellow citizens with every ounce of the scientific know-how they possess. Nor will I forget the successful treatment I received after having undergone the liver transplant through the programme of the National Committee for the Control of Viral Hepatitis. At Cairo University's Liver Institute I got to know a new generation of warriors who are fighting against the virus. The individuals in this group of people that my particular protocol brought me together with were unreserved in their praise for a young and brilliant doctor, Dr Mayy Mahraz, who was responsible for my treatment and whose advice I heard before that of my French physician who seconded her every word. These are the people of Egypt who have taken a new step toward victory in their battle to realise the levels of health and health care that all Egyptians deserve. A long road still lies ahead in this battle. But the future will be bright, by the grace of God who has blessed us with the benefits of science and noble humanitarian values. The writer is a professor of political science at Cairo University.
