Medical News
Hepatitis deaths are on the rise
The common infection kills 3,500 people every day
The number of people who die of hepatitis is increasing , according to the World Health Organization ( WHO ) 2024 Global Hepatitis Report .
The condition , which results in in�ammation of the liver caused by viruses or other factors , is the second leading cause of death among infectious diseases and led to 1.3 million deaths in 2022 , a significant increase compared to the 1.1 million people who died of the infection in 2019 . This means that every day about 3,500 people pass away due to hepatitis B and C . The former causes about 83 percent of deaths , while the latter is responsible for the remaining 17 percent . The report is based on data from 187 countries .
“ 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 Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a press release . “ 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 WHO estimates that roughly 254 million people were living with hepatitis B and 50 million with hepatitis C worldwide in 2022 . Although the data point to a slight decrease in incidence compared to 2019 when there were 2.5 million new cases , the number is still high , with 2.2 million new hepatitis infections in 2022 .
The WHO says the decrease in incidence shows that prevention measures like immunisation and safe drug injections , along with improved treatment access , have contributed to the lowering of new cases .
Despite the decline , gaps in diagnosis and treatment are still hampering efforts to further reduce new cases and deaths . For example , only 13 percent of people living with chronic hepatitis B have been diagnosed in 2022 , while just three percent of infected individuals are receiving treatment for the condition . The numbers are slightly higher for hepatitis C , standing at 36 and 20 percent , respectively . The good news is that diagnosis and treatment rates are slightly on the rise compared to 2019 , when hepatitis B was diagnosed in only 10 percent of people living with the infection and was treated in two percent of them . A similar upward trend was registered in hepatitis C , with diagnoses and treatments standing at 21 and 13 percent in 2019 .
But these increases are still far from the global targets of treating 80 percent of people living with chronic hepatitis B and C by 2030 .
One reason diagnosis and treatment rates are low is that only 60 percent of countries in the report provide hepatitis testing and treatment for free in public hospitals . In the WHO African Region , for instance , only one third of the reporting countries offer free services . In this region , there are also 63 percent of the new hepatitis B cases recorded globally .
The report recommends several measures to end the hepatitis epidemic by 2030 , including expanding access to testing and diagnosis , strengthening primary care prevention , and advancing research to develop improved diagnostics and potential cures for the infection .
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