Egypt is the first country in the world to maintain Gold Tier status towards Hepatitis C elimination

The World Health Organization has provided official validation of the maintenance of Egypt’s Gold Tier status on the path to hepatitis C elimination.

Apparently, Egypt happens to be the first country to achieve this recognition.

The validation follows a thorough assessment of the three-year period between 2023 and 2025 and endorsement by the World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Validation Committee on HIV, Hepatitis and Sexually Transmitted Infections in July 2026.

In 2023, following a remarkable decline in hepatitis C prevalence from around 10 percent to less than 0.38 percent in just over a decade, Egypt became the first country in the world to achieve the World Health Organization’s Gold Tier status on the path to elimination as per the validation criteria set by WHO.

Sustaining this status reflects the commitment of the Ministry of Health and Population to sustaining high impact prevention, testing, treatment and follow-up services and to strengthening the surveillance and systems needed to prevent a resurgence of hepatitis C.

Egypt’s achievement builds on the 100 million seha (healthy lives) campaign which screened more than 60 million people and provided treatment for more than 4.5 million with hepatitis C.

The campaign demonstrates the impact of political commitment at the highest level and a whole-of-government approach to conducting nationwide screening and providing accessible treatment, using locally produced direct-acting antivirals.

During the maintenance period, Egypt has transitioned from large-scale, campaign-based screening towards a sustainable, health-system-integrated approach, strengthening routine case finding, diagnosis, treatment, surveillance and prevention.

Key achievements include the continued expansion of hepatitis C screening, diagnosis and treatment, strengthened governance through the 2025–2030 National Sustainability Plan for Viral Hepatitis, ongoing integration of hepatitis services into primary health care and universal health insurance, strengthened laboratory quality systems and surveillance and sustained high safety standards for blood and injections.

Countless lives have been impacted by Egypt’s sustained action against hepatitis, with millions of people protected from infection, families protected from the loss of loved ones and an entire generation given the opportunity to lead healthier lives.

WHO has worked with Egypt throughout its hepatitis C response, providing technical guidance and support to strengthen prevention, testing, treatment and surveillance and helping translate global evidence and guidelines into action.