Egypt’s Minister of Health Khaled Abdel Ghaffar met a delegation from Clinilab, the authorised commercial partner of Germany’s QIAGEN in Egypt, to discuss strengthening public-health diagnostic and surveillance capacities, with a particular focus on expanding the national programme for tuberculosis (TB) testing and monitoring, the health ministry said in a statement.
Ministry spokesperson Hossam Abdel Ghaffar said discussions included widening TB screening to cover priority groups such as people living with HIV, dialysis patients, and healthcare workers, alongside enhanced contact tracing and selected child-related indicators.
The meeting also addressed the deployment of advanced digital molecular biology technologies to monitor drinking-water networks and wastewater systems. Officials reviewed a surveillance framework to detect infectious pathogens across water systems and treatment plants, aimed at strengthening early-warning capabilities and supporting public health and water security.
In addition, the two sides discussed scaling up rapid molecular tests for respiratory and gastrointestinal diseases, as well as meningitis, to improve early outbreak detection and reinforce national epidemiological surveillance.
Participants reviewed a draft memorandum of understanding to deepen cooperation, alongside proposals to localise the production of medical devices and diagnostic reagents in Egypt.
The meeting was attended by senior ministry officials, including the heads of preventive medicine and public health, the central laboratories department, and officials responsible for chest diseases and hospitals, according to the statement.
