CAIRO, Oct 7, 2018 - Minister of Health and Population Dr Hala Zayed held a meeting on Sunday with her ministry' officials to prepare for the launch of the second phase of President Abdel Fattah El Sisi's initiative to detect and treat Hepatitis C and non-communicable diseases, such as high blood pressure, diabetes and obesity. The second phase is scheduled to be launched in December and to end in February 2019. It will cover the governorates of the Red Sea, South Sinai, Cairo, Ismailia, Suez, Kafr el-Sheikh, Menoufia, Beni Sueif, Sohag, Aswan and Luxor, said Spokesman for the ministry Dr Khaled Megahed. He stated that the meeting dealt with the particularities of each governorate. Minister Zayed instructed the team responsible for the campaign to co-operate fully with the authorities concerned to make the initiative a success, he said. Minister Zayed stressed the need to overcome all the challenges facing the medical team, so it could achieve positive results, he added. In the first phase, which began last Monday in nine governorates, as many as 252,282 citizens are being screened for Hepatitis C and non-communicable diseases. The first phase will end on November 30. The minister explained that the aim of the initiative was to examine between 45 and 52 million citizens, who are 18 and older. She added that infected patients would be treated for free until they had completely recovered. The campaign, under the slogan of "100 million healthy lives", is a good opportunity for citizens to check their health. The third phase will cover seven governorates and will run from March to April 2019.
