Egypt receives WHO ‘Gold Tier’ for Elimination of Hepatitis C

CAIRO – 9 October 2023: Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus handed over on Monday President Abdel Fattah El Sisi the WHO Certification for Hepatitis C Elimination.

Egypt has thus become the first country globally to receive a certificate from the WHO for eliminating the C virus.

 

This impressive accomplishment was made through the presidential campaign ‘100 million health’ and the use of Egyptian medicines.

This came during a press conference the WHO chief held with Minister of Health Khaled Abdel Ghaffar at Ittihadia Palace following a meeting with President Sisi.

Spokesman for the Presidency, Counselor Ahmad Fahmy, said Dr. Adhanom handed President Sisi The World Health Organization “Gold Tier on the Path to Elimination of Hepatitis C Virus as a Public Health Problem” for the Arab Republic of Egypt.

The WHO Director-General congratulated Egypt for its unprecedented progress towards eliminating Hepatitis C.

 

He confirmed that Egypt has become the first country in the world to receive the “Gold Tier” status on the path to elimination of Hepatitis C, after achieving, in record time, a global success story to be emulated in the transformation from being the highest in terms of high rates of Virus C infection to the first country in the world to reach this outstanding level in eliminating the virus.

The WHO Director-General reiterated that this achievement would not have been realized without the full commitment that he has personally noted by President El-Sisi to this dossier and to health files in general. Dr. Adhanom stated that this was evident in the President’s close personal follow-up of the sound planning and serious work carried out by the health system in Egypt in this regard, through the Presidential Initiative for the elimination of Hepatitis C Virus.

President Sisi thanked the World Health Organization and its Director-General for the sincere support to Egypt, expressing his pleasure with the improvement in the health of Egyptian citizens in relation to this disease, which has long been a chronic crisis in Egyptian health.

He noted that the state has dedicated all the means to eradicate Hepatitis C, such as establishing treatment centers, providing the required diagnostic means, preparing cadres, and providing support for the Egyptian industry, which was able to provide millions of doses of drugs, as well as the continued care of patients with complications of the disease and providing them with the highest levels of medical care.

The meeting touched on the prospects for cooperation between Egypt and the WHO in many areas, such as strengthening the state's efforts to support public health in the country, especially through the related presidential initiatives under the umbrella of 100 Million Health, and developing these initiatives in various health sectors, to reach millions of citizens across Egypt.

During the press conference, The WHO director said that Egypt registered the highest rate of Hepatitis C infections in the world ten years ago but now records the lowest level of the dangerous virus which would cause serious diseases such as cancer in case of failure to treat it.

He said Egypt offered treatment to about 93 percent of those infected with the virus through the 100 million health initiative pointing out that Egypt introduced important measures to get rid of the disease.

He also said that Egypt managed to get rid of German measles known as rubella, hailing Egypt's efforts to eradicate all kinds of diseases.

For his part, Minister Abdel Ghaffar said that Egypt was the first country to get rid of Hepatitis C which affected in 2014 nearly 14 percent of the Egyptian people.