The minister said Egypt will start exporting insulin to African countries as soon as it achieves self-sufficiency.
The minister’s remarks led to a meeting with the president of the Arab Society of Pharmaceutical Industries and Medical Devices, Olfat Ghorab.
The assembly was held on the sidelines of an inspection tour of the Medical Professions Company for Pharmacy.
During the meeting, the minister affirmed the desire to localize pharmaceutical industries in Egypt in order to self-supply and then export abroad, according to Health Ministry spokesman Hossam Abdel-Ghaffar.
The pharmaceutical industry is one of the pillars of Egypt’s national security, Abdel-Ghaffar added.
He noted that the newly opened pharmaceutical factories have placed Egypt among the leading countries in the picture of pharmaceutical industries.
According to the WHO, the number of diabetics in the world is 422 million and is expected to reach 500 million by 2030.
Seventeen percent of Egyptian adults between the ages of 20 and 79 have diabetes, which means that Egypt ranks ninth among countries with the number of diabetes cases.
Egypt is expected to occupy the eighth position on the same scale until 2030.