Affordably priced meds and a politically committed government has allowed Egypt to treat Hepatitis C patients “at an unprecedented pace,” Ted Alcorn writes for the Atlantic. Pharmaceuticals manufacturers were willing to make the treatment available at affordable prices once they recognized that the country would not be able to afford the initially high price at which they were being sold. “In poorer countries like Egypt, pharmaceutical companies have been more willing to offer drugs at or near the cost of manufacturing, to reflect the countries’ ability to pay.” Egypt’s ability to drive down the meds’ retail price, coupled with its aggressive screening and treatment disbursal campaigns, has set an example for countries working towards Hepatitis C elimination, Alcorn says. “Egypt has shown that dramatic improvements in public health are possible when drugs are priced affordably — and a government makes an effort to systematically deploy them.”

Other stories that caught our eye in an otherwise slow news day for Egypt in the international press:

• Squash power duo of Mohamed El Shorbagy and Nour El Sherbini sat down for an interview with Gulf News.
• The cartoon character Bakkar is helping bridge the gap between what it means to be Nubian and what it means to be Egyptian, writes Marlies Van Coillie for Thomson Reuters’ My Salaam.
• Egypt is working to mediate a ceasefire in the latest flare up between Israel and Gaza by urging Hamas to halt military attacks on Israel, the Times of Israel reports.