Egypt Becomes First Country to Retain WHO Hepatitis C Gold Status

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

The assessment covered progress made between 2023 and 2025 and was approved by the WHO regional validation committee in July 2026. Egypt first achieved gold-tier status in 2023 after reducing hepatitis C prevalence from around 10% to less than 0.38% in just over a decade.

That progress followed the nationwide 100 Million Healthy Lives campaign, which screened more than 60 million people and provided treatment to over 4.5 million hepatitis C patients.

WHO said Egypt has since shifted from large-scale screening drives to a permanent healthcare system offering routine testing, diagnosis and treatment. Hepatitis services have been expanded through primary healthcare and universal health insurance, alongside improvements in disease surveillance, laboratory standards and blood safety.

The country is also implementing a national plan covering 2025 to 2030 to sustain progress towards eliminating viral hepatitis. WHO said it has continued to provide technical support across prevention, diagnosis, treatment and monitoring.