Egypt’s Ministry of Health and Population announced that 2 million 676, 237 people benefited from the services of the president of the republic’s initiative for early detection of cancerous tumours free of charge, as part of the “100 Health Days”.
This comes within the first and second phases of the initiative, which included 18 governorates, targeting citizens aged 18 years and over, to detect tumours in the early stages, which contributes to reducing the death rate resulting from the disease, and reducing the financial burden caused by diagnosing tumours in the late stages.
Hossam Abdel Ghaffar, the official spokesperson for the Ministry of Health and Population, stressed the importance of the results of the questionnaire dedicated to identifying risk factors for developing tumours, which is followed by referral for advanced examinations, noting that 23,385 citizens were referred to detect lung tumours, and 164,395 citizens were referred to detect colon tumours.
In addition, 115,257 citizens detected prostate tumours and 7,180 female citizens detected cervical tumours.
Abdel Ghaffar pointed out that smoking cessation awareness services were provided to 94,70 citizens, as part of the initiative, and 539 people were referred to specialised clinics affiliated with the General Secretariat of Mental Health, to receive the necessary treatment.
Nirvana Magdy, the Executive Director of the initiative, explained that obtaining the initiative’s services begins with the citizen going to the health unit and filling out a questionnaire, which includes several questions about the pathological symptoms of all tumours covered by the initiative. Through the result of the questionnaire, the citizen is informed of the disease targeted to be detected.
Nirvana added that after identifying the disease targeted to be detected in the citizen, the patient is transferred to the hospitals operating within the initiative, to conduct the necessary x-rays and laboratory tests.
In the event of a negative examination, the patient is informed of periodic follow-ups of his health condition according to the type of tumour targeted to be detected. Still, in the case of If the tests are positive, the patient is presented to a multidisciplinary committee to make the necessary treatment decision.
She pointed out that the initiative’s work and patient referrals are carried out through an electronic system that links health units, medical convoys and hospitals to the electronic questionnaire system, to facilitate citizens’ access to the initiative’s services.
