The World Health Organization (WHO) awarded Egypt Monday a certificate and gold tier status for being the world's first country to be on the path to eliminating the Hepatitis C virus.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom handed the certificate to Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi in a meeting in Cairo.
According to a statement by the Egyptian presidency, El-Sisi thanked the WHO for its support, expressing his pleasure with the achievement, given that the disease has long been a chronic health crisis in Egypt.
Egypt, he added, has dedicated all its capabilities to eliminating Hepatitis C through establishing treatment centers, preparing cadres, and providing millions of doses of medicine.
During the meeting, El-Sisi and Adhanom discussed cooperation between Egypt and the WHO on many issues, including increasing the Egyptian state’s efforts to support public health through presidential initiatives.
In a separate statement, the WHO congratulated Egypt for becoming the first country to achieve “gold tier” status on the path to eliminating Hepatitis C as per WHO criteria.
To earn WHO’s gold tier’, a country must diagnose at least 80 percent of people living with Hepatitis C and provide treatment to at least 70 percent.
Egypt diagnosed 87 percent of the people living with Hepatitis C and provided 93 percent of them with curative treatments, according to the WHO.
“Egypt’s journey from having one of the world’s highest rates of Hepatitis C infections to being on the path to eliminating the virus in less than 10 years is nothing short of astonishing,” said Adhanom.
“Egypt is an example to the world of what can be achieved with a combination of modern tools and the political commitment at the highest level to use those tools to prevent infections and save lives. Egypt’s success must give us hope and motivation to eliminate Hepatitis C everywhere,” he added.
Egypt has successfully reduced the prevalence of Hepatitis C from 10 percent to 0.38 percent in just over a decade, noted the statement.
Source: Al-Ahram Online
