The international community is celebrating World Hepatitis Day on Thursday 28 July 2022. The aim is to raise awareness of this “silent killer” which causes around 125,000 deaths in Africa every year, despite the availability of treatment.
“Putting hepatitis treatment within your reach”, is the theme chosen to commemorate the 2022 edition of World Hepatitis Day. According to Dr Matshidiso Moeti, WHO Regional Director for Africa, the celebration aims to highlight the need to bring hepatitis services closer to primary health care facilities and thus to the communities that need them, in order to improve access to treatment and care.
Africa has a rate of 26%.
More than 90 million people are living with hepatitis in Africa, representing 26% of those suffering from the disease worldwide. Unfortunately, due to the absence of symptoms, the disease is usually detected when it is too late to consider treatment and results in preventable deaths.
Status of prevalence in Africa
WHO in the African Region is using the day to launch the 2021 Hepatitis Scorecard, which shows a high prevalence of hepatitis B in over 8% of the total population in 19 countries. For hepatitis C, prevalence is above 1% in 18 countries.
Mother-to-child transmission of hepatitis B remains high in the Region, with a prevalence of 2.5% among children under five. Only 14 Member States in the African Region have managed to reduce this rate to 1%, a target that the other WHO Regions have already achieved. For example, the World Hepatitis Report 2021 reminded us that only 2% of people living with hepatitis B in Africa know their status and less than 1% receive treatment. In the case of hepatitis C, only 5% of patients know their status, with an alarming 0% treatment rate.
In addition, only 6% of babies received a dose of hepatitis vaccine at birth to prevent transmission of the virus when their mothers are infected. This is a real tragedy given the availability of vaccines that could save hundreds of thousands of lives.
Obstacles hindering actions
The main obstacles include the fact that hepatitis services are confined to cities and large urban centres and are mainly provided by specialists; the high cost of diagnostic tests and drugs; and inadequate laboratory facilities.
Prospects for effective control
In 2021, the WHO African Region adopted the 2021-2030 Framework for an integrated multisectoral response to tuberculosis, HIV, sexually transmitted infections and hepatitis in the Region. The framework aims to support major milestones such as the introduction of hepatitis B vaccination at birth in 35 Member States, the diagnosis of at least 30% of people with chronic hepatitis, and the initiation of treatment for 30% of people with hepatitis B and hepatitis C.
Towards decentralised care
In order to achieve this ambitious goal, countries must move towards decentralised care. WHO is supporting this by providing targeted training materials for health workers to scale up the delivery of simplified hepatitis B and C services in line with the principles of universal health coverage.
The call of the WHO Regional Director for Africa
In her World Hepatitis Day message, WHO Regional Director for Africa Dr Matshidiso Moeti urged African governments to decentralise care to the primary health care level. This initiative aims to ensure that everyone benefits regardless of where they live. Governments are also called upon to make funding a priority in order to end this preventable health threat.
Finally, it focuses on building the capacity of health systems to screen blood products for hepatitis and to ensure the safe use and disposal of single-use syringes. “These products are the main channels of transmission of hepatitis”.
“We have a collective responsibility towards the goal of eliminating this disease by 2030,” she concluded.
