Cairo: The Ministry of Health and Population reviewed the efforts of its advanced immunization system, which acts as a protective shield to safeguard citizens against infectious diseases and strengthen the foundations of national health security for current and future generations, on the occasion of the World Immunization Week.
According to State Information Service Egypt, the Ministry's spokesman Hossam Abdel-Ghaffar stated that Egypt has remained free of polio since 2006 and has maintained its measles and rubella-free status for the third consecutive year. This status was confirmed by the unanimous decision of the Regional Verification Commission in December 2025. Furthermore, Egypt has achieved control over hepatitis B and received a certificate for achieving the regional target as the first country in the Eastern Mediterranean Region.
Deputy Minister of Health and Population Amr Kandil highlighted the Ministry's achievement in winning the Arab Government Excellence Award in its fourth edition for 2025. The Ministry secured first place as the best Arab initiative for the project of digitizing the comprehensive vaccination system. Kandil emphasized Egypt's strategic goal of maintaining 'an epidemic-free Egypt' through a national program targeting 10 major diseases. This proactive approach ensures the delivery of safe vaccines to every child under the principle of full health equity.
Head of the Preventive Medicine and Public Health Sector Rady Hammam affirmed that the expanded immunization program represents the first line of defense for children from the first day of birth. The program is committed to achieving coverage rates of no less than 95% to ensure herd immunity. These achievements are supported by a precise epidemiological surveillance system, structural and technical development, and vaccine storage facilities accredited by the Egyptian Drug Authority to ensure the highest quality standards in supply and cold chain systems.
In the same context, Head of the Central Administration for Public Health Hisham Magdy revealed that over 50 million doses of vaccines and serums were administered over the past year. This included 33.2 million routine doses and 11.8 million school-based doses, along with rabies vaccines, influenza vaccines, and therapeutic serums. Magdy also confirmed ongoing surveillance of targeted epidemics through the testing of more than 6,800 environmental and human samples annually. The digital transformation measures included digitizing vaccination sessions, sending around 18 million SMS reminders to parents, digitizing rabies vaccination in 345 centers, providing over 250,000 free doses to expatriates, and sending over 3.5 million follow-up messages to monitor cases accurately.