Egypt and Sudan discussed on Wednesday enhancing joint cooperation to face the spread of the coronavirus and to supply COVID-19 vaccines, which Cairo has started manufacturing locally.
At a meeting with Sudanese Health Minister Omar Naguib in Cairo, Egyptian Health and Population Minister Hala Zayed stressed President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi’s keenness to offer medical support to Sudan for enhancing its health care system.
Zayed and Naguib discussed enhancing joint cooperation in Sudan's health sector to fight infections and epidemics, and also at the level of professional medical education and the localization of the pharmaceutical industry.
Egyptian Health Ministry Spokesman Khaled Megahed said that the two ministers also discussed implementing in Sudan an initiative made by Sisi on treating one million Africans from Hepatitis C.
He said Zayed noted that an Egyptian delegation to Sudan have completed equipping five centers there for implementing the initiative as well as training for health staff on diagnosis protocols.
According to Megahed, the Egyptian Minister noted that Cairo already dispatched to Khartoum PCR testing for the Hepatitis C and drug doses sufficient for an average of 250,000 Sudanese.
In addition, Zayed advised the transfer of medical oxygen to the Sudanese Health Ministry.
The two sides also agreed to revive the joint project aimed at combating the malaria-bearing Gambia mosquito.
The Egyptian minister expressed her country’s readiness to welcome additional people who were injured during the Sudanese Revolution 2018-2019 to help them complete their treatment in Egyptian hospitals.
For his part, the Sudanese minister thanked Sisi for his support to the health sector in Sudan especially for fighting the coronavirus.
He acclaimed Cairo for producing the first batch of the COVID-19 vaccine and lauded Egypt’s efforts to provide doses for sisterly countries, after meeting its local needs.