© WHO/PAHO A mother and child at a medical center on the island of St. Lucia. WHO: Viral hepatitis kills about 3,500 people every day Healthcare
Today, approximately 287 million people in the world are living with hepatitis B and C. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), in 2024 alone, these diseases claimed 1.3 million lives – approximately 3,500 people died every day.
Despite significant progress in preventing and treating viral hepatitis, the world will likely fall short of the 2030 goal of eliminating it. The WHO announced this on the occasion of World Hepatitis Day, which is celebrated on July 28.
Most deaths are associated with chronic infections, which can quietly damage the liver over many years, leading to cirrhosis and cancer. However, a significant portion of these cases can be prevented through vaccination, timely diagnosis and treatment.
Progress in prevention, diagnosis and treatment
On the eve of World Hepatitis Day, WHO presented a report on progress in implementing global strategies to combat HIV, viral hepatitis and sexually transmitted infections. The report notes that many countries have made significant progress over the past decade.
Scaling up hepatitis B vaccination efforts among children has prevented millions of new infections. Access to therapies that can completely cure hepatitis C is also expanding. In addition, more countries are integrating hepatitis prevention, diagnosis, and treatment services into primary health care. prevention, testing, treatment and sustainable health systems, this saves lives,” WHO emphasized.
Hepatitis mortality continues to rise
However, unlike HIV and tuberculosis, the mortality rate from which is gradually declining due to international investment and increased access to medical care, mortality from viral hepatitis continues to rise.
Low diagnosis remains one of the main reasons. Only about a quarter of people with chronic hepatitis B and just over a third of people with hepatitis C are aware of their disease. The global community will fail to achieve its 2030 goal of reducing hepatitis deaths by 65 percent.
Childhood vaccination
The hepatitis B vaccine is considered one of the most effective means of preventing infectious diseases. Today, 84 percent of the world’s babies receive the required vaccinations, which has significantly reduced the number of new infections.
However, in many countries, children still do not receive the protection they need. The situation remains particularly challenging in the WHO African Region, where only 17 percent of newborns are vaccinated within the first day of life.
The organization called for timely vaccination after birth to be made a global health priority. To prevent hepatitis C infection, it is also necessary to exclude the expansion of harm reduction programs for people who inject drugs.The WHO emphasizes that the necessary diagnostic tools and effective drugs have already been developed. Hepatitis C can be completely cured, and lifelong antiviral therapy for hepatitis B can control infection, prevent severe liver disease and save lives.
“The problem today is not the lack of scientific solutions, but ensuring equitable access to them,” they said organization.
The cost of inaction
Continuous funding and political will are needed to eliminate viral hepatitis, WHO emphasized. As resources for health programs dwindle, the fight against these diseases must not fall by the wayside.
The cost of inaction will be measured not only in human lives, but also in rising health care costs and deepening inequalities.
On the occasion of World Hepatitis Day, WHO called on governments, international partners, civil society and local communities join forces to remove barriers that prevent millions of people from accessing vaccinations, testing and treatment.
“The path to eliminating hepatitis is already known. Now we need to move faster, because every delay means new infections, new cases of liver cancer and new deaths that could have been prevented,” the WHO emphasized.