Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly has followed up on the availability of drugs needed for the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) under Egypt’s treatment protocol for the virus, according to a cabinet statement on Saturday.
After reviewing a report from the cabinet’s medical affairs secretariat, Madbouly emphasised that he is constantly monitoring efforts to ensure the availability of drugs included in Egypt’s treatment protocol for the virus.
He noted that this constant review of drug availability for the treatment protocol, which was prepared by the Ministry of Health, is to ensure that the required amounts of these drugs are secured for Egypt’s use.
According to the latest Ministry of Health figures on Friday evening, 157 new coronavirus cases were recorded in Egypt, bringing the country’s total to 99,582 cases. A total of 16 new fatalities were also recorded, bringing the total number of deaths to 5,495, whilst a total of 76,305 have recovered and been discharged from hospitals.
Dr Hossam Al-Masry, Medical Adviser to the Prime Minister, said that the Medical Affairs Secretariat has been coordinating with the Egyptian Drug Authority (EDA) regarding medical supplies.
In August, the EDA has expended considerable effort to provide medical supplies related to the treatment protocol for the coronavirus. Al-Masry added that these drugs have been made available by several pharmaceutical companies.
A Medical Affairs Secretariat report included a list of drugs that the EDA had administered during August and their amounts. According to the report, 1,757,938 packages of Azithromycin tablets were provided, in addition to 72,344 bottles of syrup of the same drug. Moreover, 2,981,338 packages of Paracetamol tablets were provided. Egypt’s treatment protocol for the coronavirus includes Paracetamol, Tamiflu, Azithromycin, and anti-malaria and HIV drugs such as chloroquine.
