The figures were reported on Thursday by Wagdy Amin, the head of the General Department of Chest Diseases at the Ministry of Health and Population, during the ministry's celebration of World Tuberculosis Day, which is observed on 24 March each year.

The World Bank ranks Egypt 142 out of 193 countries in 2021 in tuberculosis incidence rate.

The tuberculosis incidence rate in Egypt fell from 15 cases per 100,000 people in 2015 to only 11 cases per 100,000 in 2021, according to ministry figures.

Hazem El-Feel, the head of Medical Treatment Sector at the health ministry, added that several measures have been taken to move Egypt toward becoming a tuberculosis-free country, including screening of refugees, people in poverty and patients with HIV.

In August 2022, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) granted Egypt’s health ministry $5.2 million to improve access to HIV and tuberculosis treatment services.

The grant will help fund the country’s National Tuberculosis Control Programme, which provides early detection services, through March 2025.

Amin added that 24 chest hospitals are currently being developed and a total of 33 chest hospitals and 131 medical centers for chest diseases are in operation.

In 2022, Egypt’s chest hospitals received over 1.5 million and carried out more than 5,000 surgeries, he said.

Additionally, Amin pointed out, some 657,292 cases were triaged by chest hospitals during the coronavirus pandemic – which took a heavy toll on Egyptians in 2020-2021, before subsiding in 2022.

The health ministry is currently working on developing a map of chest diseases in Egypt and an electronic record of patients' data, Amin said.