Egypt becomes the first country to achieve WHO validation on the path to elimination of ...

9 October 2023, Cairo, Egypt – The World Health Organization (WHO) congratulates Egypt for its unprecedented progress towards eliminating hepatitis C, becoming the first country to achieve “gold tier” status on the path to elimination of hepatitis C as per WHO criteria. Achieving the gold tier means that Egypt has fulfilled the programmatic requirements that facilitate the reduction of new hepatitis C infections and deaths to levels that position the country to end the hepatitis C epidemic. Globally, 58 million people are living with chronic hepatitis C infection. While there is no vaccine, the disease can be cured with highly effective and curative short-course treatments that last 8–12 weeks. Globally, however, 4 out of 5 people living with hepatitis C do not know that they are infected. Unless treated or cured, the infection can cause liver disease and cancer. Egypt has diagnosed 87% of people living with hepatitis C and provided 93% of those diagnosed with curative treatment, exceeding the WHO gold tier targets of diagnosing at least 80% of people living with hepatitis C and providing treatment to at least 70% of diagnosed people.   “Egypt’s journey from having one of the world’s highest rates of hepatitis C infection to being on the path to elimination in less than 10 years is nothing short of astounding,” said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General. “Egypt is an example to the world of what can be achieved with modern tools, and po...
Source: WHO EMRO News - Category: Middle East Health Source Type: news