1 August 2018 – The WHO country office in Egypt, in collaboration with the Ministry of Health and Population, celebrated World Hepatitis Day 2018 by organizing a social event at Al Azhar Park in Cairo, on Saturday 28 July 2018.
Health care teams form the Ministry of Health and Population, with the support of WHO staff from the Egypt country office, performed hepatitis C testing free to park visitors.
During the event videos, including awareness-raising messages, were broadcast followed by a marathon for the participants. Volunteers included university students and health educators from the Ministry of Health and Population who distributed awareness-raising flyers to motivate the public to be tested for hepatitis C.
Viral hepatitis B and C are root causes of liver cancer, and these chronic infections may not show symptoms for a long period, sometimes years or decades. Hepatitis B and C slowly and silently damage the liver, eventually causing cancer. At least 60% of liver cancer cases are due to late testing and treatment of viral hepatitis B and C and affecting 325 million people globally.