Countries advised on hepatitis as major world summit opens in Brazil

As delegates meet for the World Hepatitis Summit 2017 in Brazil starting tomorrow, countries have been advised to provide a full range of hepatitis prevention services that are accessible to different population groups, particularly those at greater risk.

Largely due to increases in the uptake of hepatitis B vaccine, hepatitis B infection rates in children under five fell to 1.3% in 2015, from 4.7% in the pre-vaccine era.

However, delivery of other prevention services, such as birth-dose vaccination for hepatitis B, harm reduction services for people who inject drugs, and infection control in many health services, remains low, a press release issued by WHO today said

This has led to continuing rates of new infections, including 1.75 million new hepatitis C cases every year.

One of the objectives of the World Hepatitis Summit to be held from November 1 to 3, is to increase the number of countries developing practicable viral hepatitis action plans by making use of the latest public health research and technical support from WHO.

Brazil has been chosen to partner and host the World Hepatitis Summit 2017, in recognition of the country's ongoing national initiatives and consistent international leadership in the area of viral hepatitis, information posted by WHO said.

Hepatitis is an inflammation of the liver. The condition can be self-limiting or can progress to fibrosis (scarring), cirrhosis or liver cancer.

Hepatitis viruses are the most common cause of hepatitis in the world but other infections, toxic substances (e.g. alcohol, certain drugs), and autoimmune diseases can also cause hepatitis, according to the organization.

WHO reported increasing global momentum in the response to viral hepatitis. "A record 3 million people were able to obtain treatment for hepatitis C over the past two years, and 2.8 million more people embarked on lifelong treatment for hepatitis B in 2016," the release said. 

The summit aims to encourage more countries to take decisive action to tackle hepatitis, which still causes more than 1.3 million deaths every year and affects more than 325 million people.

The organization said that innovation in many aspects of the hepatitis response must continue. New tools required include a functional cure for hepatitis B infection and the development of more effective point-of-care diagnostic tools for both hepatitis B and C.

Assistant director-general for communicable diseases, Dr Ren Minghui said,"We cannot meet the ambitious hepatitis elimination targets without innovation in prevention interventions and approaches, and implementing them to scale.

The great successes of hepatitis B vaccination programmes in many countries need to be replicated and sustained globally in the context of moving forward to universal health coverage."