In 2014, the Egyptian army announced they had created a revolutionary new device that could detect and cure AIDS, Hepatitis C and other diseases – without touching the patient.
14 million Egyptians have hepatitis C – by far the highest rate in the world – because in the middle of the 20th century Egyptian doctors reused needles use to treat schistosomiasis, inadvertently spreading hepatitis. Thousands of Egyptians die each year as a result. Hep-C can cause liver disease, hepatocellular carcinoma and cirrhosis.
Egyptian and other scientists ridiculed the announcement of the miracle cure by the army. When the date for the public release of the device was pushed off and indefinitely delayed, the media lost interest in the bogus cure.
But quietly, behind the scenes, Egypt did start a huge initiative to help cure the millions who have hepatitis C.
And the country worked with a Jew who was born in Egypt in 1950.
Israel in Arabic tweeted:
This is true. Raymond Schinazi, was born in Egypt to a Jewish family, who fled in 1964 when he was 14. Schinazi was one of the founders of Pharmasset which created the Hep-C drug Sovaldi (sofosbuvir), refined with Gilead Sciences. In 2014, he specifically made it available for Egyptians at a tiny fraction of the price of the drug in the US.
Here’s his story:
After this tweet, Arabic-language media are starting to write about him.
Schinazi should be a hero in Egypt the way Jonas Salk was in the middle of the 20th century. But up until now very few Egyptians have heard of him.
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