WHO urges faster hepatitis action in Bangladesh

Bangladesh is among the 10 countries with the highest numbers of people living with hepatitis C, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Monday, urging the country to accelerate efforts to expand access to hepatitis prevention, testing and treatment.

Ahead of World Hepatitis Day, observed on 28 July, the UN health agency called for urgent action to remove the barriers that continue to prevent millions of people from receiving lifesaving hepatitis services.

According to the WHO, chronic viral hepatitis remains one of the world’s deadliest infectious diseases, claiming an estimated 1.3 million lives each year, primarily due to liver cirrhosis and liver cancer.

Hepatitis B and C account for around 95 per cent of all viral hepatitis-related deaths and continue to spread silently, causing approximately 6,000 new infections and 3,500 deaths every day worldwide.

In the WHO South-East Asia Region, an estimated 43 million people are living with viral hepatitis. In 2024, the region recorded around 266,000 new hepatitis B and C infections and 200,000 hepatitis-related deaths.

The WHO said the prevalence of active hepatitis C infection in Bangladesh’s general population is estimated at 0.6 per cent, although the burden is considerably higher among key populations and other vulnerable and underserved groups, including Rohingya refugees.

Bangladesh also carries a substantial burden of hepatitis B and is among the 10 countries that together accounted for 69 per cent of hepatitis B-related deaths worldwide in 2024.

The agency noted that this remains a major public health concern despite the availability of effective vaccines to prevent hepatitis B and treatments that can control hepatitis B and cure hepatitis C, underscoring persistent barriers to access.

“Hepatitis is preventable, treatable and, in the case of hepatitis C, 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.

“This World Hepatitis Day, WHO calls for accelerated action to break down the barriers that continue to prevent people from accessing lifesaving hepatitis prevention, testing and treatment services.”

The WHO acknowledged Bangladesh’s progress in recent years, citing the implementation of the National Strategic Plan 2020–2030, strengthened hepatitis B birth-dose vaccination, expanded testing and treatment services, and increased evidence generation to guide policy.

Supported by WHO’s technical assistance, these initiatives are helping the country move towards its goal of eliminating viral hepatitis as a public health threat by 2030.

However, the agency warned that several challenges continue to hamper progress, including low public awareness, delayed diagnosis, limited access to affordable testing and treatment, stigma and discrimination, and uneven availability of hepatitis services, particularly for key populations and vulnerable communities.

Four Priority Areas To overcome these barriers, the WHO outlined four priority areas for Bangladesh.

The first is strengthening hepatitis prevention by maintaining high hepatitis B vaccination coverage, including timely birth-dose vaccination, ensuring safe blood transfusion and injection practices, and improving public awareness through clear and accurate health messaging.

The second is expanding access to hepatitis testing and treatment by integrating hepatitis services into primary healthcare, antenatal care, blood services, and HIV and tuberculosis programmes.

According to the WHO, integrating hepatitis care into routine health services will promote earlier diagnosis and improve equitable access to testing, treatment and long-term care.

The third priority is decentralising and scaling up hepatitis services by making simplified hepatitis C treatment available beyond specialist facilities while ensuring access to affordable diagnostic tests and medicines.

Such models of care can reduce delays, improve treatment uptake and bring services closer to communities.

The fourth is strengthening hepatitis surveillance and data systems through routine recording of hepatitis testing, confirmed infections, treatment outcomes, cirrhosis and liver cancer.

The WHO said robust data are essential for assessing the disease burden, identifying high-risk groups, informing policy decisions and monitoring progress towards the 2030 elimination target.

“Bangladesh has demonstrated strong commitment to tackling viral hepatitis and is well positioned to accelerate progress towards elimination,” Dr Ahmed Jamsheed Mohamed said.

“WHO is proud to support the Government’s efforts and will continue to provide technical assistance to expand access to prevention, testing and treatment, strengthen health systems and ensure that no one is left behind.”

As the world marks World Hepatitis Day 2026, the WHO said the opportunity to eliminate viral hepatitis as a public health threat has never been greater.

By expanding access to prevention, testing and treatment, Bangladesh can save lives, reduce the burden of liver disease and accelerate progress towards its 2030 elimination goal.