The incidence rate of tuberculosis in Egypt decreased from 15,000 cases per 100,000 people in 2015 to only 11 cases in 2021, according to the Egyptian Ministry of Health. World Tuberculosis Day is observed by the World Health Organization (WHO) every year on 24 March. Egypt’s national tuberculosis control program provides early detection services through 33 hospitals and 131 chest clinics across all governorates, Health Ministry spokesman Hossam Abdel Ghaffar said. All health facilities are equipped with necessary diagnostic and therapeutic tools for detecting and treating tuberculosis cases, said Abdel Ghaffar.
The ministry provided free treatment and diagnosis to 8,238 tuberculosis patients. Of these, 61 percent are men, 33 percent are women, and 6 percent are children under 14 years old, Abdel Ghaffar said. The patients are treated with first-in-class drugs that the ministry provides. There have so far been 14 campaigns to promote early detection of tuberculosis among the at-risk groups, and a spokesperson for the Ministry of Health noted that 29,600 cases of tuberculosis have been screened and 12,91 chest x-rays have been conducted.
The bacterial airborne disease tuberculosis (TB) mostly affects the lungs, but it may also affect other parts of the body, such as the bones or the nervous system. Fortunately, the disease can be cured and prevented. TB kills more than 4,100 people globally each year and infects around 28,000. Through global efforts to combat TB, an estimated 66 million people have been protected from the deadly disease. The impact of the Coronavirus pandemic contributed to an increase in TB deaths in 2020.