The EFG-Hermes Foundation the corporate and social responsibility arm of EFG-Hermes, is sponsoring the National Hepatitis B Virus (HBV) Campaign.

The campaign, launched this month by the National Committee for the Control of Viral Hepatitis and the Ministry of Health and Population, is part of a larger programme that is slated to take place over the next four years in partnership with private sector sponsors and civil society groups, the organisers said in a statement.

Known as a “University Awareness Campaign,” it seeks to provide free HBV vaccinations for final year medical students – a segment at great risk of coming into contact with the virus, it added.

“This initiative takes a preventative, rather than reactive, approach to HBV, hoping to stop the spread of the disease and educate citizens of all ages of how best to avoid infection,” says EFG-Hermes Foundation chief executive officer Hanaa Helmy.

“Ten-15 per cent of the Egyptian population suffers from a form of Hepatitis, and most of them were originally exposed to the virus at poorly maintained clinics and hospitals,” Helmy added.

During the past 15 months, 10 medical centres have been fully-equipped with the latest technology in battling against the liver disease, with a total of 12,920 patients having been treated thus far.

“With how prevalent this disease is in Egypt, it is frightening to think how little people actually know about it,” says Dr Manal Hamdy El Sayyed, pediatrician and committee supervisor for the HBV Vaccination Campaign.

“This campaign gives us the chance to not only educate people on how to avoid the virus, but also allows us to provide them with the vaccinations they need. The education process is a constantly evolving one. Young people are expected to communicate the knowledge they will get to others within and outside their families,” said Dr Manal.

The campaign includes a series of workshops, vaccination drives and sports activities throughout the campuses of different universities, beginning with Ain Shams, Tanta and Assiout Universities. – TradeArabia News Service