WHO confirms Egypt as first country to retain Hepatitis C gold status

Egypt has become the first country in the world to retain the World Health Organization’s (WHO) gold-tier status on the path to eliminating hepatitis C, following a review of its national prevention, testing and treatment programmes.

The WHO confirmed the recognition on Wednesday after assessing Egypt’s progress between 2023 and 2025. The assessment was approved by the organization’s regional validation committee in July 2026.

Egypt first achieved gold-tier status in 2023 after reducing hepatitis C prevalence from around 10 percent to less than 0.38 percent in just over a decade.

The achievement follows Egypt’s nationwide 100 Million Healthy Lives campaign, which screened more than 60 million people and provided treatment to over 4.5 million hepatitis C patients.

According to the WHO, Egypt has since moved from large-scale screening campaigns to a permanent healthcare system that provides routine hepatitis C testing, diagnosis and treatment.

The country has also expanded hepatitis services through primary healthcare and universal health insurance while improving disease surveillance, laboratory standards and blood safety measures.

These efforts are supported by a national plan to sustain progress towards eliminating viral hepatitis, including measures covering 2025–2030.

The WHO said that it had provided technical support to Egypt throughout its hepatitis C programme, helping improve prevention, diagnosis, treatment and monitoring.