Less than a decade ago, Egypt faced one of the highest Hepatitis C burdens in the world, up to approximately 7% of adults were infected, and liver disease accounted for thousands of deaths each year. Today, Egypt has become the first country in the world to achieve WHO Gold Tier status on the path to eliminating Hepatitis C—an achievement I am deeply proud to have led.
As Minister of Health, I spearheaded the “100 Million Healthy Lives” campaign—an unprecedented national effort that screened over 60 million people and treated more than 4 million at no cost to individuals. We prioritized political commitment, community mobilization, data infrastructure, and universal access to low-cost direct-acting antivirals (DAAs)- locally manufactured, affordable drugs that achieved cure rates of over 98%.
Our results exceeded WHO elimination benchmarks: we diagnosed nearly 87% of estimated cases and treated 93% of those, all within an integrated, human-rights-based health system. This success validated the power of political resolve combined with technical excellence. It also freed Egypt from the burden of an epidemic that had roots in past public health campaigns gone awry—those schistosomiasis control efforts between the 1950s and 1980s had inadvertently spread the virus via unsafe injection practices.
Now, at ACCESS Health International, alongside launching a global coalition, ‘Stop Hep Alliance’, we are committed to transferring Egypt’s public health success into a global blueprint. Egypt’s victory has inspired a worldwide movement, one that offers data‑driven, scalable pathways for elimination across low‑ and middle‑income countries.
Our aim is clear: to support governments, NGOs, and civil society to deliver universal access to testing and treatment; to build robust data ecosystems; and to amplify political intent. Drawing from Egypt’s lessons, we work to catalyze Rwanda, Georgia, Tanzania, and others to design and implement elimination strategies tailored to local contexts.
Yet, this is not just about national pride or institutional recognition. A deeper purpose guides us: health equity and justice. We designed Egypt’s campaign to reach vulnerable communities- refugees, rural residents, people with limited access—ensuring that no one was left behind, even when living in remote villages or marginalized settings.
Egypt’s health diplomacy has extended beyond our borders, too. In 2019, under WHO EMRO support, Egypt pledged free treatment and screening for one million people across 14 African nations, sharing expertise, software, and locally produced medicines. That effort reflects our conviction: public health breakthroughs should be shared and adapted, not hoarded.
But the work is not over. Globally, 80% of people with Hepatitis C remain undiagnosed, and nearly 90% untreated. We must act boldly to flip those numbers, leaving no country behind, and no patient invisibly suffering in silence.
A decade ago, few would have predicted that Egypt could transform from one of the worst Hepatitis C epidemics to a gold‑tier achiever. Yet we did- and now the world can too.
What Egypt did in a decade, the world can do by 2030.
References:
- https://accessh.org/from-chairs-desk/egypts-swift-elimination-of-hepatitis-c-a-model-for-success-globally/
- https://www.who.int/director-general/speeches/detail/statement-to-the-media-on-certification-of-egypt-reaching-the-gold-tier-on-the-path-to-elimination-for-hcv-cairo–egypt—9-october-2023
- https://www.emro.who.int/fr/media/actualites/who-welcomes-egypts-support-to-14-african-countries-in-their-fight-against-hepatitis-c.html
- https://accessh.org/opinions/stop-hep-alliance-a-global-call-to-end-viral-hepatitis-by-2030/