According to WHO, Viral Hepatitis Is Now as Deadly as Tuberculosis
Every 30 seconds, someone in the world dies of viral hepatitis.
The World Health Organization’s 2024 Global Hepatitis Report highlights a sobering reality: viral hepatitis causes 1.3 million deaths each year, making it the second leading infectious cause of death worldwide. Despite this alarming statistic, many people remain unaware of the risks and prevention methods. Even more alarming is this: deaths from hepatitis are increasing, not decreasing, despite it being preventable, treatable, and, in many cases, curable.
But First - What Is Hepatitis?
Hepatitis means inflammation of the liver. It can result from viruses, alcohol abuse, certain medications, autoimmune conditions, or toxic substances. But the most widespread and dangerous forms are caused by hepatitis viruses, namely A, B, C, D, and E.
How Does It Spread?
● Hepatitis A & E: Through contaminated food or water.
● Hepatitis B, C & D: Through blood and body fluids, via unprotected sex, unsafe injections, shared needles, or from mother to child at birth.
Among these, hepatitis B and C are the most serious, leading to chronic infections that, if untreated, can cause liver cirrhosis, liver failure, or liver cancer. What makes them particularly dangerous is their silent nature. People may carry the virus for 5, 10, even 20 years, unknowingly damaging their liver day by day.
According to WHO:
- Worldwide, approximately 296 million people are living with chronic hepatitis B
- 58 million live with hepatitis
- India bears one of the world’s highest burdens of these infections, yet awareness, screening, and treatment rates remain extremely low.
But here's the good news! Hepatitis is both preventable and treatable. The World Health Organization has set an ambitious goal to eliminate viral hepatitis as a major public health threat by the year 2030. But this goal needs action.
That’s Why This World Hepatitis Day (July 28), WHO Urges Us to “Break It Down”
- Break the stigma.
- Break the silence.
- Break the barriers to testing, treatment, and vaccination.
- Because every barrier we break can save a life.
Let’s Break It Down - One Step at a Time
1. Break the Silence
The problem: Most people don’t talk about hepatitis. Unlike diabetes or heart disease, hepatitis remains a silent topic even within families. Many people only discover they have it when liver damage is advanced.
How to break it: Start talking. Encourage open discussions about liver health. Ask your doctor about hepatitis testing during a routine check-up. Community leaders, schools, and media must normalize conversations around testing and vaccination.
Awareness begins with one voice. Let it be yours.
2. Break the Stigma
The problem: There’s a persistent myth that hepatitis only affects people who drink alcohol, use drugs, or are “careless.” This stigma stops many from getting tested or seeking help, especially women and adolescents.
How to break it: Understand that hepatitis can affect anyone. Even children, health workers, homemakers, and professionals. Stop blaming the patient. Speak compassionately.
Let people know it's a medical issue, not a moral one.
3. Break the Misinformation
The problem: Too many people think hepatitis is rare, incurable, or always fatal. Some even believe the hepatitis B vaccine is unsafe, despite decades of proven success.
How to break it: Learn the facts. Share them. Hepatitis B can be effectively managed with medication taken throughout a person’s life. And yes, the hepatitis B vaccine is safe and effective, used globally to protect billions.
Knowledge saves lives. Ignorance costs them.
4. Break the Barrier to Access
The problem: Many people, especially in rural areas, can’t access hepatitis testing, treatment, or vaccines. Cost, distance, or lack of information all stand in the way.
How to break it: Governments, NGOs, and hospitals must bring care closer to the people. This includes free screening camps, mobile health units, telemedicine consultations, and subsidized treatment programs. As an individual, you can help by getting tested yourself, guiding others to free clinics, or donating to awareness initiatives.
Health care should reach every door, not just hospital doors. Here’s the Bottom Line:
- One simple blood test can tell you if you have hepatitis B or C.
- Effective treatment and cures exist.
- Vaccines can prevent the disease entirely.
- But none of it works unless we break the barriers
This World Hepatitis Day, don’t just read the headline. Be part of the movement.
Break the silence. Break the stigma. Break the myths. Break hepatitis.
So What Can You Do Today?
Dr. Naveen Ganjoo, Senior Consultant (ILC) says, “Hepatitis can be silent, but it doesn’t have to be deadly. Early diagnosis is the key. A simple blood test could save your liver and your life.” You know what to do. That one blood test could save your life. If you’ve never been tested for hepatitis, or have a history of blood transfusions, dental procedures, surgery, injections, or tattoos. It’s time to take the first step.
