May 18–23, 2026
Egypt participated with a high-level delegation headed by Minister of Health and Population Dr. Khaled Abdel Ghaffar in the 79th World Health Assembly in Geneva, cementing the country’s growing role as a leader in shaping global health policy. In a landmark address to the Assembly, the Minister highlighted Egypt’s historic achievement in eliminating Hepatitis C, noting that nearly 63 million citizens were screened and over 4 million patients received free locally-manufactured medications under the “100 Million Healthy Lives” initiative, making Egypt the first country in the world to receive gold-tier WHO certification for Hepatitis C elimination. Egypt also received official WHO certification for the elimination of trachoma, becoming the seventh country in the Eastern Mediterranean region to eliminate one of the world’s leading preventable causes of blindness. On the policy front, Egypt led the adoption of a landmark resolution on Metabolic Dysfunction-Associated Steatotic Liver Disease (MASLD) — sponsored by 18 nations and unanimously adopted — a disease affecting over 1.7 billion people globally and closely linked to obesity and diabetes. Additionally, Ms. Heba El-Sewedy, Chairperson of the Ahl Masr Foundation, received the 2026 Global Health Leaders Award from WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, in recognition of her pioneering contributions to burn care in Africa and the MENA region.
