Egypt has become the first country in the world to receive certification for maintaining the World Health Organization’s gold-tier status in its efforts to eliminate hepatitis C, following a review of its achievements in combating the virus between 2023 and 2025.
Until the 2010s, Egypt had the highest prevalence of Hep C globally, affecting roughly 10% of the population, largely due to historical public health campaigns involving unsterilised medical needles in the 20th century.
But on Wednesday, the country received the certificate from the WHO after the organisation confirmed that it had met the requirements for retaining the status, which it first obtained in October 2023.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus presented the certificate to Egyptian Health Minister Khaled Abdel Ghaffar during a news conference in Cairo, held on the sidelines of the 73rd session of the WHO Regional Committee for the Eastern Mediterranean.
The WHO said the recognition reflected Egypt’s continued progress in tackling Hep C. The review of the country’s efforts between 2023 and 2025 confirmed that it had fulfilled the requirements for maintaining the gold-tier status.
The decision had previously been approved in July 2026 by the WHO Regional Committee for the Validation of the Elimination of HIV, Hepatitis and Sexually Transmitted Infections.
Egypt's Health Minister Khaled Abdel Ghaffar said the country’s achievements were built on the 100 Million Health campaign, launched in 2018. The campaign screened 68 million Egyptians and provided free treatment to around 4.5 million people living with the virus, using locally produced medicines.
In a statement, the WHO said Egypt had moved away from large-scale screening campaigns towards a sustainable and integrated approach to combating Hep C during the period in which it maintained its gold-tier status.
The approach includes strengthening routine screening, diagnosis, treatment, surveillance and prevention, while expanding access to services for people living with the virus.
The organisation highlighted Egypt’s expansion of screening, diagnosis and treatment services, as well as efforts to strengthen governance and oversight between 2025 and 2030.
Other measures include drawing up a national plan to sustain the elimination of Hep C and continuing to integrate hepatitis services into primary healthcare and the country’s comprehensive health insurance system.
Egypt has also worked to improve laboratory quality and disease surveillance systems, while maintaining high standards for blood and injection safety, according to the WHO.
The WHO first awarded Egypt gold-tier status in October 2023, making it the first country in the world to receive the recognition for its progress towards eliminating Hep C.
Over roughly a decade, Egypt, a country of more than 120 million people today, reduced the prevalence of the virus from 10% to 0.38%.
During that period, the country diagnosed 87% of people living with the virus and provided treatment to 93% of those diagnosed.
These figures exceeded the WHO’s gold-tier benchmarks, which require countries to diagnose at least 80% of people living with Hep C and treat at least 70% of those diagnosed.