The World Health Organization (WHO) has awarded Egypt the Gold Level certificate for its remarkable achievement in eliminating hepatitis C, a chronic viral infection that affects millions of people worldwide. Egypt is the first country in the world to receive this certification, after reducing its infection rate from 14.7% in 2015 to less than 1% in 2021. The certificate was presented to President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi by Tedros Adhanom, the director-general of the WHO, during a meeting on Monday. The meeting was also attended by Khaled Abdel Ghaffar, the Minister of Health and Population, and other senior officials and leaders of the organization. Adhanom praised Egypt's success story, which he said was achieved in record time and could serve as a model for other countries. He attributed this achievement to the full commitment and personal follow-up of President Al-Sisi, who launched the presidential initiative to eliminate hepatitis C in 2018. The initiative involved establishing treatment centers, providing diagnostic tools, training staff, supporting local production of medicines, and offering free treatment to millions of citizens. The initiative also covered patients with complications of the disease, such as liver cirrhosis and cancer. President Al-Sisi thanked the WHO and its director general for their sincere support to Egypt's health sector. He expressed his happiness with the improvement of the health of Egyptian citizens, who had long suffered from this disease. He also discussed with Adhanom the prospects of cooperation between Egypt and the WHO on various topics, especially the strengthening of public health through the presidential initiatives under the umbrella of "100 Million Health". These initiatives aim to provide preventive and curative services to millions of citizens in different fields, such as diabetes, obesity, breast cancer, and eye diseases. On Monday, Minister Abdel Ghaffar and Adhanom announced that Egypt has become the first country in the world to achieve the "Gold level" in its efforts to eliminate the hepatitis C virus. The Gold level means that Egypt has met the criteria for reducing new infections and deaths caused by hepatitis C to the levels that qualify the country to eradicate the epidemic. Adhanom praised Egypt's remarkable progress, saying: "Egypt has transformed from a country with one of the highest rates of hepatitis infection to a country that has reached the path of eradicating the disease in less than 10 years. This is an amazing journey." He added that Egypt has provided the world with a role model for what can be achieved when adopting the latest tools and securing political commitment at the highest levels to use those tools to prevent infection and save lives. "Egypt's success should inspire us with hope and motivation to eliminate hepatitis C everywhere," he concluded. Minister Abdel Ghaffar said that Egypt is the first country in the world to get rid of the hepatitis C virus, which infected 14% of Egyptians, a long journey that began in 2014 when President Al-Sisi promised to end the disease that affected Egyptians and impacted the state's capabilities. He highlighted the coordination between the ministries and the relevant agencies to start screening and treatment as well as awareness campaigns. "In 2018, 63 million citizens were screened and provided with treatment, which is being studied globally, as it is a huge process that was crowned with success, and treatment was offered to those who were infected.
