For the right of the African people to life, for their right to a decent life and development, which will be achieved only through the efforts of healthy Africans, capable of working and thinking creatively, Cairo has hosted from 19 to 20 November 2018 a "Capacity Building Training Workshop on Viral Hepatitis for African Union Member States" under the auspices of the African Liver Patients’Association (ALPA), represented by Prof. Gamal Shiha, President of the Association and in collaboration with the Scientific Technical Research Commission of the African Union, represented by Mr. Ahmad Hamdi, Executive Director of the Commission, with the participation of several senior officials, experts and representatives of pharmaceutical companies from more than 20 African countries.

The workshop focused on how to provide participants with the knowledge and skills needed to combat endemic viral hepatitis by sharing experiences about the challenges and successes of the Egyptian Liver Foundation and spreading the experience acquired in Africa.

All of these efforts have been put in place to combat the specter of viral hepatitis, which affects 550 million people worldwide, resulting in high mortality rates, globally accounting for more than one million deaths every year. Africa contributes to this (13.7 per 100,000 deaths), which is about 10% of the total death rate ; while the vast majority of individuals infected with viral hepatitis live in low to middle-income African countries, where medical screening, access to care and treatment are not readily available. Against this backdrop, this Capacity Building Training Workshop leverage on stakeholders, pharmaceutical companies, philanthropies with the aim of mitigating the problem and providing assistance to the AU Member States that are threatened by the infection.