WHO Calls for Urgent Action on Hepatitis as Hepatitis D Remains an Overlooked Threat
Key Insights
WHO urges Bangladesh and the South-East Asia Region to break down barriers to hepatitis prevention, testing, and treatment on World Hepatitis Day 2026.
Chronic viral hepatitis causes 1.3 million deaths annually worldwide, with hepatitis B (search) and C accounting for 95% of viral hepatitis deaths and 3,500 deaths daily.
Hepatitis D (search), the most severe form of chronic viral hepatitis, affects an estimated 12 million people globally yet remains widely underrecognized with limited treatment options.
On World Hepatitis Day 2026, the World Health Organization (WHO) issued an urgent call to break down barriers preventing millions from accessing hepatitis prevention, testing, and treatment services. The appeal, made from Dhaka, Bangladesh, highlights the persistent global burden of chronic viral hepatitis, which remains one of the world's leading infectious disease killers, causing an estimated 1.3 million deaths every year, mainly from liver cirrhosis (search) and liver cancer (search).
Hepatitis B (search) and C account for approximately 95% of all viral hepatitis deaths and continue to spread silently, resulting in around 6,000 new infections and 3,500 deaths worldwide every day. In the WHO South-East Asia Region alone, an estimated 43 million people are living with viral hepatitis, with the region recording an estimated 266,000 new hepatitis B and C infections and 200,000 hepatitis-related deaths in 2024.
Bangladesh's Dual Burden of Hepatitis B (search) and C
Bangladesh is among the 10 countries with the highest numbers of people living with hepatitis C (search) globally. The prevalence of active hepatitis C infection in the general population is estimated at approximately 0.6%, though the burden is substantially higher among key populations and other vulnerable and underserved populations, including Rohingya refugees. The country also bears a high burden of hepatitis B (search) and is among the 10 countries that together accounted for 69% of hepatitis B-related deaths worldwide in 2024.
This persistent disease burden exists despite the availability of vaccination to prevent hepatitis B (search) and effective treatments to manage hepatitis B and cure hepatitis C (search), highlighting significant barriers to access.
"Hepatitis is preventable, treatable and, in the case of hepatitis C (search), curable. Yet too many people continue to miss out on the services they need because they are diagnosed too late or cannot access timely testing and treatment," said Dr Ahmed Jamsheed Mohamed, WHO Representative to Bangladesh.
Bangladesh's National Response and Remaining Gaps
Bangladesh has demonstrated strong commitment to eliminating viral hepatitis as a public health threat through the development of the National Strategic Plan 2020–2030, strengthened hepatitis B (search) birth-dose vaccination, expanded testing and treatment services, and the generation of evidence to inform policy and action. Supported by WHO's technical assistance, these efforts aim to accelerate progress towards the national goal of eliminating viral hepatitis as a public health threat by 2030.
However, significant barriers continue to limit access to hepatitis services, including low public awareness, late diagnosis, limited access to affordable testing and treatment, stigma and discrimination, and the uneven availability of hepatitis services, particularly for key populations and vulnerable and underserved populations.
Four Priority Areas for Action
WHO outlined four priority areas requiring sustained, coordinated action. First, strengthening hepatitis prevention by sustaining high hepatitis B (search) vaccination coverage, including timely birth-dose vaccination, ensuring safe blood transfusion and injection practices, and raising public awareness. Second, expanding access to hepatitis testing and treatment by integrating hepatitis services into primary health care, antenatal care, blood services, and HIV and tuberculosis programmes. Third, decentralizing and scaling up hepatitis services by making simplified hepatitis C (search) treatment available beyond specialist facilities and ensuring access to affordable diagnostics and medicines. Fourth, strengthening hepatitis surveillance and data systems through routine recording of hepatitis testing, confirmed infections, treatment outcomes, cirrhosis, and liver cancer (search).
Hepatitis D (search): The Overlooked Threat
While hepatitis B (search) and C dominate global attention, hepatitis D (search) (HDV) — the most severe form of chronic viral hepatitis — remains widely underrecognized. HDV occurs only in people living with hepatitis B, and WHO estimates that about 12 million people worldwide live with HDV.
Russia's Asian regions and neighboring Mongolia face a shared HDV challenge. National-level epidemiological data remains limited, meaning the true burden may be underestimated. A recent review found HDV in about one in four hepatitis B (search) patients studied in hospital and liver-clinic cohorts in Russia's Asian regions. In Mongolia, a 2024 study estimated that 71,600 people were living with active HDV infection.
Early diagnosis is particularly important because HDV can progress rapidly: one global analysis found progression to cirrhosis in about five years and liver cancer (search) in about 10 years, on average. Yet access to confirmatory HDV RNA testing remains limited in many low- and middle-income countries, leaving infections undiagnosed and the true burden difficult to measure.
Treatment options are also scarce. As of July 2026, only two HDV-specific therapies have received regulatory approval worldwide, and availability remains uneven across many high-burden regions. With HDV-specific treatment unavailable or difficult to access closer to home, some patients from Mongolia, Pakistan, and other neighboring countries have traveled to Beijing, Urumqi, and other Chinese cities for care.
"Improving hepatitis D (search) care will require sustained cooperation across the region," said Bin Chen, CEO of Huahui Health (search). "We remain committed to working with partners on scientific exchange and clinical research so that progress can ultimately benefit more patients."
As the world marks World Hepatitis Day 2026, the opportunity to eliminate viral hepatitis as a public health threat has never been greater. By expanding access to prevention, testing, and treatment, countries can save lives, reduce the burden of liver disease, and accelerate progress towards the 2030 elimination goal.