WHO Partners With Egypt’s Health Ministry for TB Project
Egypt's Ministry of Health and Population and the World Health Organization on Sunday signed an agreement to launch a one-year campaign to raise awareness of tuberculosis and reduce the number of TB cases, Daily News Egypt reports. The two organizations announced the partnership during a health forum conference in Egypt.
Ahmed Abdel Razik, chair of WHO's Egypt office, said the partners will implement the campaign in three phases. The first phase strives to raise awareness about TB, while phase two will provide information about TB prevention and treatment measures. The third phase will address the social stigma associated with the disease, Razik said. In addition, the ministry plans to organize an event in Cairo on March 11 to raise awareness of TB. The event will feature actors, athletes, public figures and more than 20,000 Egyptians active in nongovernmental organizations, according to Daily News Egypt.
Amr Khaled, chair of the Right Start Foundation International, praised the ministry and WHO for their initiative, adding that the government's plan to work with young people and NGOs is "in itself a great success." Khaled added that the campaign demonstrates that these organizations plan to "engag[e] youth and the public in general to reach practical solutions" for problems like TB. According to WHO, TB is the second most important public health problem in Egypt. The country's National TB Control Program enrolls more than 12,000 new TB patients annually, and about 6,000 to 8,000 people in the country develop the disease annually, Daily News Egypt reports (Saleh, Daily News Egypt, 1/27).
