The World Health Organisation stated that viral hepatitis infections are the second leading cause of death globally, with 1.3 million deaths per year, which is the same as tuberculosis, a major infectious killer.
This information was revealed in the 2024 Global Hepatitis Reports at the World Hepatitis Summit, organized by WHO.
The World Hepatitis Summit is happening from April 9 to 11, 2024, in Lisbon, Portugal, under the theme, “Integrate Accelerate Eliminate.” It serves as a global meeting to advance the viral hepatitis agenda and provide a platform for a broad hepatitis community to review progress, share experiences, and best practices in reaching and validating viral hepatitis elimination.
According to WHO, hepatitis is a liver inflammation caused by various infectious viruses and non-infectious agents, resulting in various health problems, some of which can be deadly.
There are five main strains of the hepatitis virus, known as types A, B, C, D and E. Although they all cause liver disease, they differ in important ways such as transmission methods, severity of the illness, geographical distribution, and prevention methods.
In its African region, 63 per cent of new hepatitis B infections occur, yet only 18 per cent of newborns in the region receive the hepatitis B birth-dose vaccination, despite this burden.
“In the Western Pacific Region, which accounts for 47 per cent of hepatitis B deaths, treatment coverage stands at 23 per cent among people diagnosed, which is far too low to reduce mortality.
“Bangladesh, China, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Philippines, the Russian Federation and Viet Nam, collectively shoulder nearly two-thirds of the global burden of hepatitis B and C. Achieving universal access to prevention, diagnosis, and treatment in these ten countries by 2025, alongside intensified efforts in the African Region, is essential to get the global response back on track to meet the Sustainable Development Goals,” it highlighted.
The global health body stated that the number of lives lost due to viral hepatitis is increasing, claiming 3,500 lives every day from the infections.
Despite having better tools for diagnosis and treatment, as well as decreasing product prices, testing and treatment coverage rates have stalled. However, reaching the WHO elimination goal by 2030 is still possible if swift actions are taken now.
“New data from 187 countries show that the estimated number of deaths from viral hepatitis increased from 1.1 million in 2019 to 1.3 million in 2022. Of these, 83 per cent were caused by hepatitis B, and 17 per cent by hepatitis C. Every day, 3,500 people are dying globally due to hepatitis B and C infections,” it noted.
The WHO Director-General, Dr Terror Ghebreyesus said, “This report paints a troubling picture: despite progress globally in preventing hepatitis infections, deaths are rising because far too few people with hepatitis are being diagnosed and treated.
“WHO is committed to supporting countries to use all the tools at their disposal – at access prices – to save lives and turn this trend around.”
The latest WHO estimates show that in 2022, 254 million people have hepatitis B and 50 million have hepatitis C.
Half of the cases of long-lasting hepatitis B and C are among individuals aged 30–54, with 12 per cent among children under 18 years old. Men make up 58 per cent of all cases.
“New estimates show a slight decrease in new infections compared to 2019, but the overall infection rate for viral hepatitis remains high. In 2022, there were 2.2 million new infections, down from 2.5 million in 2019.
“These include 1.2 million new hepatitis B infections and nearly 1 million new hepatitis C infections. More than 6,000 people are getting newly infected with viral hepatitis each day.
“The updated estimates are based on improved data from national prevalence surveys. They also show that measures for preventing infection, such as vaccination and safe injections, as well as the expansion of hepatitis C treatment, have helped to reduce the number of new cases,” it stated.
The organization noted that across all regions, just 13 per cent of people with chronic hepatitis B have been diagnosed, and about three per cent (7 million) have received antiviral therapy by the end of 2022.
“As for hepatitis C, 36 per cent have been diagnosed and 20 per cent (12.5 million) have received curative treatment.
“These results are far below the global goals to treat 80 per cent of people with long-lasting hepatitis B and C by 2030. However, they do indicate a small but consistent improvement in diagnosis and treatment coverage since the last reported estimates in 2019. Specifically, hepatitis B diagnosis increased from 10 per cent to 13 per cent and treatment from two per cent to three per cent, and hepatitis C diagnosis from 21 per cent to 36 per cent and treatment from 13 per cent to 20 per cent.”
The report suggests speeding up the elimination of hepatitis by expanding access to testing and diagnostics; transitioning from policies to implementation for fair treatment; strengthening primary care prevention efforts; streamlining service delivery, optimizing product regulation and supply; creating investment plans in priority countries, and mobilizing innovative financing; among other things.
