Egypt’s Health Minister Khaled Abdel Ghaffar met with a delegation from Clinilab, the authorised commercial partner of Germany’s QIAGEN in Egypt, to discuss bolstering public-health diagnostic and surveillance capacities. The talks focused on expanding the national tuberculosis (TB) testing and monitoring programme, alongside water network surveillance. Discussions also covered scaling up rapid tests for respiratory, gastrointestinal diseases, and meningitis.
Egypt’s Health Minister Khaled Abdel Ghaffar held a meeting with a delegation from Clinilab to explore ways to strengthen public-health diagnostic and surveillance capacities. According to a ministry statement, the discussions centred on expanding the national tuberculosis (TB) programme to include screening for priority groups such as people living with HIV, dialysis patients, and healthcare workers, along with improved contact tracing and specific child-related indicators.
The parties also addressed the use of advanced digital molecular biology technologies for monitoring drinking-water networks and wastewater systems. They reviewed a surveillance framework designed to detect infectious pathogens in water systems and treatment plants, aiming to enhance early-warning systems and bolster public health and water security.
Further talks involved scaling up rapid molecular tests for respiratory and gastrointestinal diseases, as well as meningitis, to facilitate earlier outbreak detection and strengthen national epidemiological surveillance. The meeting included senior ministry officials, such as the heads of preventive medicine and public health, the central laboratories department, and those overseeing chest diseases and hospitals.
Participants examined a draft memorandum of understanding to deepen collaboration, including proposals to localise the production of medical devices and diagnostic reagents in Egypt. Ministry spokesperson Hossam Abdel Ghaffar noted that these discussions aim to fortify Egypt's national health response.