Viral hepatitis affected 325 million people worldwide in 2015, with 257 million people living with hepatitis B and 71 million people living with hepatitis C the two main killers among the five types of hepatitis.

Viral hepatitis caused 1.34 million deaths in 2015, almost equalling the number of tuberculosis deaths and exceeding deaths linked to HIV.

New World Health Organisation, WHO, data from 28 countries representing approximately 70 percent of the global hepatitis burden indicate that efforts to eliminate hepatitis are gaining momentum. Published to coincide with World Hepatitis Day, the data revealed that nearly all the 28 countries have established high-level national hepatitis elimination committees, and more than half have allocated dedicated funding to tackle hepatitis.

WHO has called on countries to continue to increase services to eliminate hepatitis. This week, WHO has also added a new generic treatment to its list of WHO-prequalified hepatitis C medicines to increase access to therapy, and is promoting prevention through injection safety a key factor in reducing the transmission of hepatitis B and C.

"It is encouraging to see countries turning commitment into action to tackle hepatitis," Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General, said. "Identifying interventions that have a high impact is a key step towards eliminating this devastating disease. Many countries have succeeded in scaling-up the hepatitis B vaccination. Now, we need to push harder to increase access to diagnosis and treatment."

World Hepatitis Day 2017 is being commemorated under the theme 'Eliminate Hepatitis.' In 2016, the World Health Assembly endorsed WHO’s first global health sectors strategy on viral hepatitis to help countries scale up their responses. The new WHO data show that more than 86 percent of the countries reviewed have set national hepatitis elimination targets, and more than 70 percent have begun developing national hepatitis plans to enable access to effective prevention, diagnosis, treatment and care services.

"The national response towards hepatitis elimination is gaining momentum. However, at best, one in 10 people who are living with hepatitis know they are infected and have access to treatment. That is unacceptable," said Dr Gottfried Hirnschall, WHO's Director of the HIV Department and Global Hepatitis Programme.

"For hepatitis elimination to become a reality, countries need to accelerate their efforts and increase investments in lifesaving care. There is simply no reason why millions still have not been tested for hepatitis and cannot access treatment."

Hepatitis C can be cured with direct acting antivirals (DAAs) within three months. However, as of 2015, only 7 percent of the 71 million people with chronic hepatitis C had access to treatment.

WHO has launched new educational and communication tools to support a campaign, entitled, "Get the Point-Make smart injection choices," to improve injection safety.

Source: Wam