Tackling Egypt’s Health Challenges Through Biotechnology and Sustainable Water Management

Egypt is in the northeastern corner of Africa. Egypt has a famous river called the Nile River which flows from the South to the North. Because of this Egypt is divided into two main sections: Upper Egypt and Lower Egypt. Upper Egypt is the part in the South. The Lower Egypt is the part in the North. A popular job in Egypt would be in Tourist Agencies. Egypt is very popular for its tourism and its food. About 90% of Egypt are Muslims, while 10% are Copts. Copts are one of the oldest parts of the Christian religion. Egypt is a place where there is history marked beneath each scripture. But there is more to than meets the eye.

Egypt’s population is growing rapidly. Most of the civilization lives near the Nile River in a narrow strip. Children are expected to help their families out on the farms in the rural sides of Egypt. According to Worldometer on the 25th of May 2025, the number of people residing in Egypt is 118,181,424 million. As the population increases, the small area starts to get overcrowded due to numerous facilities. In 2023, 56.9% of the population lived in the rural side. The remaining 43.1% lived in the urban side. This was a 0.13% drop from 2022’s percentage of the rural population, 57.03%. The economic landscape of the rural area is primarily dominated by Agriculture. According to the WFP, 21% of the population is living in poverty. 49% of the households are without sufficient access to food. In Egypt, a public concern is Malnutrition. 6.5% of children under the age of 5 are suffering from stunting or wasting.

The chief of state is the president voted by the majority votes. If the need arises, there can be a second round conducted. They are voted for a four-year office term and a second term can be possible as long as they are re-elected. The Current President is Abdel Fattah El-Sisi. He has been the president since 2014. The Current Prime Minister is Mostafa Madbouly, who has been in this position since 2018. This country has a Unicameral Parliamentary System. Unicameral Parliamentary System is a type of system where laws are made by a single legislative body.

Agricultural land (% of total land area) in Egypt was reported at 4.0766% according to the World Bank Collection Indicators. Egypt is the world’s top exporter of Orange. In 2019, it exported $680 million worth of metric tons of oranges. Globally, Egypt is the second largest producer of figs with 167,622 tons per annum. Dried Onion is another one of the major exports of Egypt. In 2019, it exported 8.1% of the total global exports of Dried Onion. The average farming size of Egypt is around 1.7 hectares (4.2 acres). For context, it is the size of 2.5 football fields.

As of 2023, the average family size is 3.9 per household. This figure is calculated by dividing the total household population by the number of households. There are more families in rural areas due to the increased fertility rates compared to more urban populations. The number of children per woman is at a slight decrease of 3.171 births. The gross monthly salary range of workers in Egypt is between 4,328 EGP (86.69 USD) to 16,912 EGP (338.75 USD) at the highest. The most common job would be a government job that comes with strict restrictions for citizenship. For breakfast, an average Egyptian eats a variety of dishes like ful madame (mashed fava beans), ta’meya (Egyptian falafel), eggs, and cheese. Tea or coffee is a staple of Egyptian breakfast. For Lunch, they eat meat or chicken stew, grilled vegetables, and salads. They eat a similar set of dishes for dinner. Many Egyptian families rely on souqs (open-air markets) for fresh produce, spices, and meat. Traditionally, mud ovens are used for baking bread, while grilling over an open flame is common for meats.

In 2018, the Universal Health Insurance Law emerged to restructure the healthcare system by providing universal health coverage and making sure healthcare is affordable for all citizens. Egypt has a well-developed and extensive tertiary education system. Water Infrastructure coverage has grown substantially over the years. In rural areas, 12% live in dwellings and are not connected to the water system. In urban areas, 4% of the urban slums and poor settlements are not connected to water systems. 10% of the population did not benefit from access to improved sanitation. In rural areas, 13% of those households do not have soap or other detergents. Because of this lack of access to sanitation, there has been a spread of diseases. Diarrhea is the 2nd most leading cause of death among 5-year-old children. Most of these deaths are due to dehydration. Statistics show that 3500-4500 under-5 children die of diarrhea every year.

Hepatitis C is an epidemic that has lasted for three decades and affected an estimated 6.3% of the population. However, with the help of the 100 Million Healthy Lives campaign, the country eliminated Hepatitis C from its entire population. As of 2023, WHO has confirmed 516,023 cases of Covid-19 in which there were 24,830 deaths. Travel agencies recommend routine vaccines for hepatitis A, typhoid, measles, mumps, and more. The CDC advises travelers to stay updated on polio vaccines as some regions are prevalent with the poliovirus. The CDC works closely with the government and partner organizations to detect, prevent and control infectious outbreaks, and strengthen the country’s public health capabilities. The trends have slowly started to improve. The Egyptian healthcare system consists of two: Public and Private. Many prefer Private healthcare as it has a higher quality and many specialists. Public healthcare is of low standards as it has low funding and inadequate staff. Many Egyptians avoid Public Healthcare due to factors like outdated equipment, long queues for treatments, undertrained staff, and poor sanitation levels. In rural areas, it is still difficult to get good health services. However, in 2027, the country is expected to have universal and subsidized healthcare for all citizens. Egypt is particularly vulnerable to high world food prices and trade shocks due to its dependence on food imports. Imports account for 40% of Egypt’s total calorie consumption. Ever since the Russian-Ukrainian war started, the domestic inflation price has gone up. Poor households are most vulnerable to food price inflation as a larger share of income is put for food. Egypt’s government has continued to subsidize key food items and keep prices fixed. IFRI surveyed more than 6000 poor households. Many respondents claimed reducing consumption of unsubsidized foods such as meat and eggs. This suggests a potential decrease in diet quality. Egypt faces water scarcity as 90% of the Nile River is used for farming, leaving little for drinking. The agricultural system is strained as the rising population demands food and resources. Children & Elderly are more prone to respiratory infections, malnutrition-related diseases, and waterborne diseases due to weak immunity. Low-income families have high exposure to foodborne diseases due to limited access to clean water and healthcare. Rural populations are prone to waterborne diseases due to reliance on the Nile River which is contaminated. Many refugees face overcrowded living conditions, increasing their risk of having Tuberculosis and other respiratory diseases.

Common solutions to infectious diseases in Egypt are vaccines, antibiotics, and antivirals, washing hands regularly, using clean water, and maintaining good hygiene. However, these solutions may not meet the needs of the population as the rural side has limited water and sanitation. Some villages rely on traditional water sources, which are not safe to drink. Ancient Egyptians believed that cleanliness was important for physical well-being and spiritual well-being. The 100 Million Healthy Lives campaign is the largest medical screening campaign to date that eliminated Hepatitis C. The campaign was conducted because of the $250 million which was around half of the $530 million loan from the World Bank. It was a government treatment free of charge but you could opt for a private treatment of $70. At the end of the campaign, an estimated 1.23 million citizens were cured. The government made sure that everyone knew that the program had the full support of the Prime Minister and Health Ministry. Egypt deployed its existing infrastructures within its healthcare system to control organizational costs. The Egyptian Government declared the burden of Hepatitis C drugs was the reason for its endemic status. Because of this, the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights agreement exempted the country from drug patent protection. This allowed Egypt to purchase pharmaceutical ingredients from India at a lower cost, these materials were then formulated by the Egyptian pharmaceutical companies. That same treatment in the US could cost $24000-$84000 while in Egypt it's just $45 per person for the government. The government had resources like political power, existing infrastructures, and coordinated organization.
Egypt’s neighboring countries like Sudan, Lebanon, and Libya face food security challenges. The countries have done similar measures like Egypt.

One solution involves gene editing—a group of technologies that give scientists the ability to change an organism’s DNA. These technologies allow genetic material to be added, removed, or altered at a specific location in the genome. A well-known tool would be CRISPR – Cas9. CRISP’s full form is Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats. Cas9 is an abbreviation for CRISPR-associated protein 9. This is one of the cheapest gene editing tools. This is a part of the bacteria's immune system.

Researchers adapted this immune defence system to edit DNA. Bacterial diarrhea is a common waterborne disease in Egypt that is caused by harmful bacteria infecting the intestines. Symptoms include Dehydration, Stomach Pain, and Frequent loose stools. Scientists could modify probiotics to identify harmful bacteria in the gut. The gut microbiome controls processes like the digestion of food, the immune system, and more. CRISPR can be used to attach genetic sequences that allow the probiotic to identify harmful bacteria, then the probiotic can make short guide RNA that allows it to track the bad microbes. Once the bacteria are found, Cas9 can cut the DNA of the bad microbe. Some of these probiotics could be engineered to produce antimicrobial peptides. So, this way the bad microbes cannot have antibiotic resistance. Scientists can also engineer probiotics to store genetic memories to fight well in the future. The impact I am hoping to achieve is to stop diarrhea from taking the lives of young children in Egypt. The limitations to this approach could be that CRISPR is unpredictable, it raises ethical concerns, we do not know a lot about CRISPR and how it reacts, there is limited precision so we cannot insert large sequences of DNA and some patients’ immune system reacts to CRISPR making it ineffective. Some cultures may oppose the idea of changing genetics and raise ethical concerns about how the technology can be used. The government and geneticists should be in the lead for this project. The government should implement strict laws on gene editing to prevent misuse in areas such as germline editing. I believe the idea I’ve suggested can be implemented by the government but they need time to get the products and arranging the money. Egypt could do funding similar to how it did for the 100 Million Healthy Lives program. There are several Biotechnology Companies and Gene Editing companies in Egypt like Ingene Test and Xeedia Pharma. CRISPR can help in sustainability for Agriculture, Medical Advancements, and more.

My second solution is a water purification system. Riverbank Filtration (RBF) is a technology that works by pumping out water from borewells that are drilled along the banks of a river During the pumping, river water passes through the sediments. The raw surface water that heads to the RBF well is filtered and does not contain pathogens, or suspended solids as they are significantly reduced in numbers because of a combination of physical, chemical, and biological processes. This filtration method uses Reverse Osmosis. In the borewell, we could add a filter that filters the remaining microbes. Here, we can use synthetic Zeolites (sodium aluminosilicate) that are custom-engineered to control purity. These Zeolites have a higher exchange capacity which allows it ability to remove particles with a positive charge. This filter can remove calcium and magnesium that cause the hardness of the water. It also removes Magnesium and Iron, so there are no orange stains in water. Synthetic zeolites can neutralize the pH, soften the water, and reduce iron making it a superior medium of filtration. The impact I am hoping to achieve is to prevent waterborne diseases from occurring by installing this in several parts of the Nile River. The limitation to this approach is that to use this, the water must have a 3 gpg of hardness and at least 80 ppm of TDS. The water must have a pH of 6.3 or above. After a certain pH level, zeolite crystals will not be able to neutralize water. The pH of the Nile River is around 7.94- 8.5 making it slightly alkaline. The water can be neutralized by using Synthetic Zeolite Crystals. Cultural norms that should be considered when implementing this plan include respecting other religions, as in some, water is considered sacred. This is an eco-friendly solution. The essential resources required include synthetic zeolites, an analysis of the condition of the Nile River, and the construction of borewells at specific locations along the river. Additionally, sensors should be installed to monitor the effectiveness of the filtration system. Water conservation laws should be strengthened to prevent contamination of water sources by industries. The government could help with where the RBF can be placed by creating guidelines. The government can encourage citizens to use this. Egypt could use research conducted by the Hydrogeological Research Centres studying water purification for a deeper understanding and more advanced water purified systems. The government can give a grant for this to be executed. This solution is very sustainable and cost-effective as it requires only two things: Borewells and the Nile River. I believe my recommendation is practical and can be implemented by the government.

In Egypt, infectious diseases are prevalent. Although the situation is improving, progress is slow. The government's healthcare system is inadequate, relying on outdated equipment and poorly trained staff. In rural areas, many people lack access to healthcare. Additionally, many individuals in these regions become ill due to drinking from contaminated water sources. These sources can be purified using a filtration method called RBF. CRISPR has the potential to cure many diseases, so I urge the government to utilize this technology, as antibiotics are not always effective.