As the World Hepatitis Day was celebrated by nations all over the world on Friday, the World Health Organisation (WHO) restated its commitment to support regional and national efforts to eliminate viral hepatitis by 2030.
The WHO Regional Director for Africa, Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, in a message to mark the event, noted that the strategy for eliminating the virus includes providing clear guidance for decentralized and simplified person-centered prevention, testing and treatment of viral hepatitis, including eliminating Hepatitis B through birth dose vaccination (the day of birth or the day after).
Moeti added that much more still needs to be done to reduce hepatitis-related deaths and infections.
The WHO Regional Director explained that despite the availability of diagnostic tools and effective treatment, more than 90 percent of people living with Hepatitis in Africa do not receive the care they need, and less than 10 percent of the population has access to testing and treatment.
According to WHO, the highest burden of Hepatitis B infection in children below five years of age is seen in countries without Hepatitis B vaccination at birth.
Moeti added: “Immunization, thus, is an important component in the fight against Hepatitis. I am glad that all 47 member-states in the Africa Region have included the Hepatitis B vaccine in routine immunization.
“However, coverage for routine childhood vaccination against Hepatitis B in the region stands at 72%, far below the global target of 90%. As of 2022, 16 countries in the region provide a birth dose of the vaccine to all newborns, up from 11 in 2021.
“Let’s take advantage of available tools and interventions to ensure liver health for all persons.”
Moeti urged nations to make services available through strong primary healthcare services increasingly funded through domestic resources.
“Testing and treatment interventions must be part of the essential package of health services delivered through integrated primary healthcare that addresses the needs of individuals of all ages (newborn, child, adolescent reproductive and maternal healthcare).
“We must scale up Hepatitis B immunization coverage to reach the globally agreed target of 90.percent. Therefore, I urge all countries to work to introduce the Hepatitis birth dose.
“I encourage policymakers and partners to demonstrate political commitment to sustained and simplified hepatitis testing, prevention, and treatment as part of broader liver health and primary health care to achieve viral hepatitis elimination. I remind communities to take up hepatitis vaccination, hepatitis testing, treatment and curative services through all available health services.”
WHO also commended Namibia for being the first country to apply for the WHO path to Mother-To-Child Transmission Triple elimination status, including Hepatitis B, and look forward to other countries in the region doing the same soon.
Hepatitis B is commonly transmitted from mother-to-child during birth and delivery. Hepatitis B is also spread through contact with blood or other body fluids during sex with an infected partner, unsafe injections, or exposures to sharp instruments.
Hepatitis C is spread through contact with the blood of an infected person by unscreened blood transfusions, sharing needles and unsafe sexual practices that lead to direct exposure to blood.
More than 91 million Africans are living with hepatitis.
In 2019, an estimated 1.2 million new hepatitis infections and 125,000 hepatitis-related deaths occurred in the African Region. Deaths occur mostly among the young and productive segments of the population.
WHO’s global hepatitis strategy, endorsed by all WHO member-states, and the Framework for an Integrated Multisectoral Response to TB, HIV, STIs, and Hepatitis in the WHO African Region aims to reduce new hepatitis infections by 90 percent and deaths by 65 percent by 2030.
Dr. Baruch Blumberg discovered the Hepatitis B Virus in 1967 as a virus that causes the breakdown of the liver’s normal structure, which prevents the liver from working correctly.
The theme for this year’s World Hepatitis Day, “One Life, One Liver” seeks to emphasize the link between viral hepatitis infection and liver inflammation—that is, liver injury and damage—and the broader issues of liver health and primary health care.
Infection with the Hepatitis B virus is preventable by vaccination, while doctors can now successfully treat Hepatitis C, caused by the Hepatitis C virus, with antiviral drugs.
