Hepatitis elimination by 2030: Progress and challenges

Yasir Waheed; Masood Siddiq; Zubia Jamil; Muzammil Hasan Najmi

Abstract:

Globally, over 300 million people are living with viral hepatitis with approximately 1.3 million deaths per year. In 2016, World Health Assembly adopted the Global Health Sector Strategy on viral hepatitis to eliminate hepatitis by 2030. Different World Health Organization member countries are working on hepatitis control strategies to achieve hepatitis elimination. So far, only 12 countries are on track to achieve hepatitis elimination targets. The aim of the study was to give an update about the progress and challenges to achieving hepatitis elimination by 2030. According to the latest data, 87% of infants had received the three doses of hepatitis B virus (HBV) vaccination in the first year of their life and 46% of infants had received a timely birth dose of HBV vaccination. There is a strong need to improve blood and injection safety. Rates of hepatitis B and C diagnosis are very low and only 11% of hepatitis B and C cases are diagnosed. There is a dire need to speed up hepatitis diagnosis and find the missing millions of people living with viral hepatitis. Up to 2016, only 3 million hepatitis C cases have been treated. Pricing of hepatitis C virus drugs is also reduced in many countries. The major hurdle to achieve hepatitis elimination is lack of finances to support hepatitis programs. None of the major global donors are committed to invest in the fight against hepatitis. It will be very difficult for the low and middle-income countries to fund their hepatitis control program. Hepatitis elimination needs strong financial and political commitment, support from civil societies, and support from pharmaceutical and medical companies around the globe. Keywords: Hepatitis, Global Health Sector Strategy, Hepatitis B virus vaccination, Injection safety, Find missing millions, Harm reduction Core tip: Viral hepatitis is one of the leading causes of deaths worldwide. World Health Organization has produced a strategy to eliminate hepatitis by 2030. The major hurdle to achieve hepatitis elimination is lack of financial resources. If the targets in Global Health Sector Strategy are achieved, then the millions of lives will be saved from liver related premature deaths. Go to: INTRODUCTION Hepatitis B and C are major causes of liver-related deaths[1]. Globally, 257 million and 71 million people are living with hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV), respectively[2]. In the last 15 years, massive progress has been achieved in the fights against human immunodeficiency virus, malaria and tuberculosis, mainly by heavy commitments by the global donor agencies while viral hepatitis remains neglected[3]. In 2015, United Nations included hepatitis in its Sustainable Development Goals. In 2016, World Health Assembly has adopted the Global Health Sector Strategy (GHSS) on viral hepatitis to eliminate hepatitis by 2030. The goal of the World Health Organization (WHO) GHSS is to reduce hepatitis incidence from 6-10 million cases to 0.9 million cases, and to reduce annual hepatitis deaths from 1.4 million to 0.5 million, by 2030[4]. The WHO is helping different countries to develop hepatitis control programs[5]. By November 2017, 84 countries had developed hepatitis control programs[6]. Due to lack of international investment in viral hepatitis programs, only a few countries included hepatitis treatment and prevention strategies for all patients in their national hepatitis programs[1]. According to Polaris data, only 12 countries, namely Australia, Iceland, Switzerland, Italy, Mongolia, Spain, Egypt, France, Georgia, Japan, Netherlands, and United Kingdom are on track to achieve the WHO hepatitis elimination targets[7].

research from:

• Foundation University Medical College

Year:

2018

Type of Publication:

Article

Journal:

World Journal of Gastroenterology

Volume:

24

Number:

44

Pages:

4959-4961

Month:

12

DOI:

doi: 10.3748/wjg.v24.i44.4959