MADRID, (EUROPA PRESS) – On the occasion of World Hepatitis Day, which was celebrated on Friday, the World Health Organization (WHO) calls for more testing and treatment of viral hepatitis, warning of that this disease could kill more people than malaria, tuberculosis and HIV combined by 2040, if current infection trends continue.
Hepatitis causes liver damage and cancer and kills more than a million people a year. Of the 5 types of hepatitis, hepatitis B and C cause the most illness and death. Hepatitis C can be cured; however, only 21 percent of people infected with hepatitis C are diagnosed and only 13 percent have received curative treatment. Only 10 percent of people living with chronic hepatitis B are diagnosed, and only 2 percent of those infected receive the life-saving medication.
Under the slogan ‘One life, one liver’, the WHO has launched its World Hepatitis Day campaign, which underlines the importance of protecting the liver against this disease in order to live a long and healthy life. Thus, they focus on the fact that good liver health also benefits other vital organs, such as the heart, brain and kidneys, which depend on the liver to function.
“Millions of people are living with undiagnosed and untreated hepatitis around the world, despite the fact that we have better tools than ever to prevent, diagnose and treat it,” said WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. “WHO remains committed to supporting countries to scale up the use of these tools, including increasingly cost-effective curative medication, to save lives and end hepatitis,” he said.
WHO will share new guidance to track countries’ progress on the path to eliminating hepatitis by 2030. To reduce new infections and deaths from hepatitis B and C, countries must: Ensure access to treatment for all women pregnant women living with hepatitis B, provide hepatitis B vaccines to their babies at birth, diagnose 90 percent of people living with hepatitis B and/or hepatitis C, and provide treatment for 80 percent of all people diagnosed with hepatitis. They must also act to ensure optimal blood transfusion, safe injections and harm reduction.
VACCINATION, TESTING AND TREATMENT: OPPORTUNITIES TO PROTECT THE LIVER FROM HEPATITIS
Reducing hepatitis B infections in children through vaccination is a key intervention to limit viral hepatitis infections in general. The hepatitis B incidence target is the only Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) health target to be met by 2020 and is on track to be met by 2030. Yet many countries in Africa do not have access to hepatitis B Hepatitis B vaccines in doses at birth.
Gavi’s recent relaunch of its 2018 Vaccine Investment Strategy — which includes birth-dose hepatitis B vaccine — will boost newborn vaccination programs in West and Central Africa, where transmission rates maternal and infant hepatitis B rates remain very high.
To help eliminate mother-to-child transmission, WHO recommends that all pregnant women be tested for hepatitis B during pregnancy. If they test positive, they should receive treatment and vaccinations should be given to their newborns. However, a new WHO report shows that of the 64 countries with a policy on this, only 32 reported carrying out hepatitis B screening and treatment activities in antenatal clinics.
The report also shows that, of the 103 countries that reported, 80 percent have policies to detect and treat hepatitis B in HIV clinics, and 65 percent do the same for hepatitis C. Increase testing and Hepatitis treatment within HIV programs will protect people living with HIV from developing liver cirrhosis and liver cancer.
After years of increasing treatment rates, the increase in the number of people accessing curative treatment for hepatitis C is slowing. The WHO advocates taking advantage of medication price reductions to accelerate advances in the expansion of treatment.
A 12-week treatment to cure hepatitis C now costs $60 (54.6 euros) in low-income countries, up from more than $90,000 (82,004 euros) it originally cost when it was first introduced in countries high income. Hepatitis B treatment costs less than $30 a year ($2.4 a month).
For people who want to maintain liver health, WHO recommends hepatitis screening, treatment if diagnosed, and vaccination against hepatitis B. Reduce alcohol consumption, achieve a healthy weight, and control diabetes or hypertension also benefit the health of the liver.
