Strong participation from the African Liver Patients’Association (ALPA), under the chairmanship of Prof. Gamal Shiha, at the COLDA (Conference on Liver Diseases in Africa), held in Cairo, Egypt, from 6-8 September 2019.

The COLDA 2019 aims at empowering African healthcare professionals (HCPs) to diagnose, prevent, treat and achieve a cure for liver diseases to improve the lives of patients in Africa.

The conference was attended by more than 7 ALPA members, acronym stands for African Liver Patients’ Association, which is a connection network of 34 associations from 19 African countries. Their participation aimed at raising awareness of the role of civil society organizations in Africa and of their role in contributing to the elimination of viral hepatitis, through their knowledge of regional and local needs as well as the exchange of best practices, citing as examples: Mali, Uganda, Nigeria, Ghana and Burundi, which can later be translated into guidelines and policies in different countries.

On the sidelines of the conference, ALPA members visited the headquarters of the Association in Cairo, where they stressed the importance of joint cooperation to eradicate hepatitis viruses in Africa and the mechanism of popularizing the successful Egyptian experience in combating the disease in other African countries.

Dr. Solomon Obekpa, Board Member of ALPA, praised the quality of work and services of the Egyptian Liver Foundation - the Egyptian member of ALPA - especially the private hospital and the Nursing Institute.

It should be noted that within the framework of Egypt's presidency of the African Union, ALPA, in cooperation with the African Union, conducted last November a Training Workshop for practitioners in the field of viral hepatitis in Africa.

Over 200 participants from 35 African countries participated in the Conference, namely: Rwanda, Ghana, Nigeria, Mauritius, Burkina Faso, Mali and from other parts of the world as well including US, UK, Germany, Netherlands.