On World Hepatitis Day, the World Health Organization (WHO) in China is urging people to ‘Think Again’ about the risks of viral hepatitis, and how to protect themselves and their families.
Viral hepatitis includes the group of infectious diseases known as hepatitis A, B, C, D, and E. Viral hepatitis is a serious illness that can lead to cancer and cirrhosis of the liver.
“Viral hepatitis remains a serious public health threat in China, and without sustained effort to improve prevention, diagnosis and treatment, it will endanger the health and wellbeing of millions of Chinese people for many years to come,” said Dr Bernhard Schwartländer, WHO Representative in China.
“Yet many people do not know they could be affected. For this reason, on World Hepatitis Day this year, WHO is urging policymakers, health workers, and the public to 'Think again' about this silent killer,” Dr Schwartländer added.
In China, there are approximately 93 million carriers of hepatitis B virus, and almost 8 million carriers of hepatitis C virus.
Vaccination is a proven strategy to prevent hepatitis B: just 3 doses of hepatitis B within the first year of life – the first dose within 24 hours of birth – provide lifelong protection against hepatitis B infection.
Because the greatest risk of exposure to HBV is at the time of birth, vaccinating babies within the first 24 hours is critically important to protect the health and wellbeing of children.
“Since 1992, China has achieved truly remarkable success in reducing the prevalence of hepatitis B through vaccination – reducing infection rates in young Chinese children by 90 per cent, and averting 80 million cases of hepatitis B and more than 20 million chronic hepatitis B infections,” Dr Schwartländer explained.
“But now is no time for complacency. We must redouble our efforts, to ensure every baby born in China receives access to life-saving hepatitis B vaccine – especially the all-important birth dose. This is our message to parents, soon-to-be parents, health workers and the broader community this World Hepatitis Day,” Dr Schwartländer said.
Another major challenge for China is the estimated 20 million people in need of treatment for hepatitis B, and estimated 2.5 million people in need of treatment for hepatitis C, to prevent their hepatitis infection progressing to cirrhosis or liver cancer.
“There is an urgent need for China to move quickly to take advantage of new, more affordable and more effective treatments for viral hepatitis that are becoming available elsewhere in the world,” Dr Schwartländer said.
“Investing in public health programs to provide treatment for hepatitis will also deliver significant savings to China’s health budget in the future, by reducing future infections and, for example, the costs incurred in treating cancer cases that result. The benefits of investing in hepatitis treatment will well and truly outweigh the costs,” Dr Schwartländer concluded.
About the World Health Organization
WHO is the directing and coordinating authority for health within the United Nations system. It is responsible for providing leadership on global health matters, shaping the health research agenda, setting norms and standards, articulating evidence-based policy options, providing technical support to countries and monitoring and assessing health trends.
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