International cooperation on health and medical care for viral hepatitis: 30 years of activities on comprehensive viral hepatitis control of the JICA group training program for developing countries

The National Hospital Organization Kumamoto Medical Center has conducted a group training course for health care workers (HCW) from developing countries on viral hepatitis and its related diseases in cooperation with the Japan International Cooperation Agency, for 30 years. In the first 10 years, the course included acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma (ATL), and hepatitis. Following the discovery of the hepatitis C virus and the genotype of the hepatitis B virus, and development of treatments for hepatitis, viral-related cirrhosis, and cancer, the course was divided into two courses. In 2015, the hepatitis training course was renewed as the "Comprehensive Countermeasure for Virus Hepatitis", which ended its role in February 2018. Between 1998 and 2017, 175 HCW from 43 countries, including 36 participants from Egypt, participated. Between October 11 and 20, 2019, we conducted a follow-up survey of the results of the training and conducted a field visit on hepatitis control in Egypt.