Africa's largest medical expo kicks off in Egypt

Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi inaugurated on Tuesday Africa's largest medical exhibition, Africa Health ExCon, calling for increasing cooperation among African states to deal with health challenges in the future.

During the opening ceremony aired on Egyptian state TV, Sisi said that the COVID-19 crisis revealed the fragility of the healthcare system in Africa due to the limited economic capabilities of African states.

But by cooperation and coordination among African states, "we can greatly improve the humble capabilities that we have," the Egyptian president said.

Sisi noted that Egypt, with a population of 105 million, needs to double the number of its hospitals, medics and all related facilities and personnel.

He explained that the Egyptian government launched initiatives, like the successful campaign to eradicate the hepatitis C virus, to gradually improve the healthcare conditions in the most populous Arab country and overcome the relevant challenges.

The inauguration ceremony of the second edition of the Africa Health ExCon was attended by several Egyptian and African officials, including Egypt's Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly and Health Minister Khaled Abdel-Ghaffar, and Director General of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention Jean Kaseya.