Hepatitis: Let’s break it down
Viral hepatitis is a serious infection that causes liver damage and liver cancer. Among the five strains of hepatitis viruses, B and C are the most common. In the Western Pacific Region, about 96.8 million people are living with chronic hepatitis B and around 7.1 million are living with chronic hepatitis C, accounting for one third of the global burden of hepatitis B and C. Despite the availability of effective and affordable interventions that could prevent new infections and deaths, viral hepatitis remains a persistent cause of death in the Region, with an estimated 561 000 deaths due to hepatitis B and C each year.
Under the theme “Hepatitis: Let’s break it down”, this year’s World Hepatitis Day calls for urgent caution to break down the barriers to eliminating hepatitis and preventing liver cancer. It highlights the need to simplify, scale up, and integrate hepatitis services—vaccination, safe injection practices, harm reduction, and especially testing and treatment—into national health systems. The campaign is a reminder that we must act now to expand access and integrate care, if we are to end hepatitis as a public health threat by 2030.
Only 1 in 4 people living with hepatitis B have been diagnosed and only 1 in 5 received appropriate treatment.
Similarly, only 1 in 2 people living with hepatitis C have been diagnosed and only 1 in 6 have been cured.
It is vital to bring hepatitis prevention and treatment services closer to communities at the primary health care level to reach unreached populations and reduce illnesses and deaths. By acting now, we can save lives, prevent new infections, reduce liver cancer cases, decrease deaths, lower health-care costs, and achieve hepatitis elimination goals by 2030.
The Western Pacific Region has made significant progress in controlling hepatitis B through national vaccination programs. In 2023, 80% of newborns received a timely birth dose of the hepatitis B vaccine, and 93% completed a three-dose vaccination series for long-term protection. The Region has met the 2020 target of reducing the prevalence of hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) to below 1% in young children and is on track to achieve future targets of 0.5% by 2025 and 0.1% by 2030.
WHO support
The WHO Western Pacific Region is updating its interactive data visualization tool, the WPRO Hepatitis Dashboard, to track regional progress toward hepatitis elimination targets. This interactive dashboard will provide an overview of the latest available data from countries in the Region, including the prevalence of hepatitis B and C infections, deaths attributable to hepatitis B and C, vaccination rates, and coverage of diagnosis and treatment.
WHO also continues to support countries in monitoring their progress and validating hepatitis elimination through the newly established Regional Validation Advisory Group on Elimination of Mother-to-Child Transmission (EMTCT) of HIV, Hepatitis B, and Syphilis, and Accelerated Control of Viral Hepatitis in the Western Pacific Region (WP RVAG). This expert panel will provide independent guidance on countries’ efforts to eliminate mother-to-child transmission of HIV, syphilis, and hepatitis B, and to achieve overall hepatitis elimination goals in the Western Pacific Region.
Call to action
This World Hepatitis Day, we call on countries to expand access to simplified and equitable interventions for viral hepatitis. Let us commit to taking bold and decisive action by prioritizing vaccination, testing, and treatment. Key actions include:
- expanding access to testing and diagnostics to ensure more people can access the treatment they need;
- strengthening primary care prevention efforts to prevent hepatitis through vaccination, safe infection and injections practices and education;
- decentralizing hepatitis care to bring care closer to patients by utilizing community-based services;
- integrating hepatitis care within existing health services, combining hepatitis treatment with primary care, HIV services, and harm reduction programs where relevant to offer more accessible and comprehensive care;
- engaging affected communities and civil society, ensuring that the insights and experiences of people affected by viral hepatitis are at the heart of prevention and treatment efforts; and
- mobilizing domestic or innovative financing to secure new funding avenues to support and sustain hepatitis elimination programs.
Together, we can make hepatitis elimination a reality by 2030.
Source: WHO’s Web
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