CAIRO: Nahdet El Mahrousa, a non-profit nongovernmental organization, is launching a project to combat Hepatitis C funded by a group of companies led by the EFG Hermes Foundation.
The project aims at increasing awareness of the disease and directly helping Al-Kasr Al-Aini patients while reducing the likelihood of getting infected with virus C, Mahmoud El Hefnawy, the project leader told Daily News Egypt.
The hospital of internal medicine in Al-Kasr Al-Aini hospitals expects a LE 2.1 million donation to fight Hepatitis C very soon, according to the Director of the Internal Medicine hospital, Hani Elewa.
The project also entails an awareness campaign that involves educating nurses, patients and health workers about the prevention of the spread of Hepatitis C, in addition to a national TV campaign.
Nahdet El Mahrousa and Al-Kasr Al-Aini have reached an understanding, whereby the hospital would receive two endoscope disinfection machines, critical care monitors, a two-year supply of gloves and syringes and 352 new beds. Every three months, the hospital should receive a portion of the donation.
El Hefnawy said that they approached a number of companies, but only got small amounts of donations – around LE 10,000-20,000 – but they are still reaching out to other companies.
I cannot say exactly how much is needed to fight Hepatitis C, but we welcome any donation because it is all for the good of the patients, Elewa said.
Ashraf Hatem, general manager of Al-Kasr Al-Aini hospitals told Daily News Egypt that any sum of money would be helpful since 20 percent of the Egyptian population suffers from Hepatitis C virus.
Nahdet El Mahrousa is a well-known institution in the field of social service, and we have partnership with it in other fields, not only healthcare, Hanna Helmy, the CEO of EFG Hermes told Daily News Egypt.
We are committed to making a difference, she added.
Al-Kasr Al-Aini receives more than LE 30-40 million donations annually from different institutions, Hatem said.
