The Tahya Misr (Long Live Egypt) Fund said on Monday that free treatment doses will be provided to 60,000 patients with the hepatitis C virus who have been diagnosed by state medical convoys across Egypt.

The move is part of a joint campaign, known as the Extensive Campaign to Eradicate Virus C 2020, launched by the Tahya Misr Fund and the health ministry in February of this year to bolster a national initiative to eradicate the virus.

Tahya Misr was established by President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi in 2014 for social and economic development purposes.

The medical doses will be distributed via 65 centres in governmental hospitals, as well as in clinics that are a part of the National Committee for Control of Viral Hepatitis, said Tamer Abdel-Fattah, the financial and administrative director of the fund, in a statement on Monday.

The campaign aims to test and treat 15 million people every year in an effort to completely eliminate the blood-bourne virus from the country by 2020. It will also provide examinations for other diseases, including diabetes and hypertension.

Tahya Misr aims to enter into deals with universities to open outpatient clinics to test students and provide free-of-charge medications.

Egypt has the highest prevalence of the hepatitis C in the world, according to the World Health Organization.

The highly infectious virus kills an estimated 40,000 Egyptians per year and at least 1 in 10 members of the population aged 15 to 59 are infected.