The Cabinet’s Media Centre has highlighted on Sunday Egypt’s journey in combating Hepatitis C, culminating in the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) renewal of the country’s gold-tier status on the path towards eliminating the disease in October 2026.
The report noted that Egypt once had one of the world’s highest Hepatitis C infection rates, with around 10 per cent of its population affected in 2008. A major turning point came in 2018 with the launch of the presidential “100 Million Healthy Lives” initiative, which screened around 63 million people aged 12 and above and provided treatment to four million patients.
These efforts helped reduce the prevalence rate to below 0.38 per cent, paving the way for Egypt to receive the WHO’s gold-tier certification for Hepatitis C elimination in October 2023.
The infographics also highlighted continued prevention and screening efforts between 2023 and 2025, including screening an additional 16.5 million people, increasing diagnostic coverage from 86.7 to 87.3 per cent, and identifying around 49,000 new cases and linking them to healthcare services.
Egypt also maintained 100 per cent compliance with blood safety and injection safety standards.
According to the report, Hepatitis C prevalence declined further to 0.28 per cent in 2026, while disease-related mortality fell by 54 per cent compared with 2018 levels.
The Media Centre noted that Egypt became the first country in the world to secure a renewal of the WHO’s gold-tier recognition in October 2026, underscoring the sustainability of its efforts in disease prevention, early detection and treatment.
