two-thirds of new hepatitis cases are reported in Asia (and two African countries)

According to the UN health agency, about 3,500 people die every day from viral hepatitis. The highest number of infections is recorded in China, India, Indonesia, Nigeria and Pakistan. Despite improvements in diagnostic testing, there are still huge disparities in access to medications.

Milan () – Around 3,500 people die every day due to viral hepatitis, says a recent report recently published by the World Health Organization. Although there have been improvements in diagnosis and treatment, a dozen countries, most of them in Asia, account for two-thirds of hepatitis B and C cases: Bangladesh, China, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines , Russia and Vietnam. Furthermore, in the Western Pacific region, where 47% of hepatitis B deaths occur, therapeutic coverage is 23%, a figure that is too low to reduce mortality, explains the United Nations agency. “This report shows a worrying picture: despite global progress in preventing hepatitis infections, deaths are increasing because too few people with hepatitis are diagnosed and treated,” commented WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

Hepatitis is an inflammation of the liver and may or may not be viral in nature. Among the viral ones there are five forms that are identified with the letters of the alphabet: A, B, C, D, E. Above all B and C are those that acquire a chronic form and lead to other pathologies, in particular liver cirrhosis and cancer of the liver. liver. WHO estimates an increase in deaths from 1.1 million in 2019 to 1.3 million in 2022, 83% caused by hepatitis B and 17% by hepatitis C. Pakistan recorded the highest number of infections Hepatitis C viral infections worldwide, with approximately 8.8 million cases, equivalent to 44% of all new hepatitis C infections detected worldwide, attributed to unsafe medical injections. Also adding hepatitis B cases, a total of 12.6 million were recorded in 2022, a figure that corresponds to 4.4% of all new global cases and places the South Asian country in fifth place in the world ranking. behind China, India, Indonesia and Nigeria, some of the most populous countries in the world. But it is China that presents the most dramatic situation (see photo): in 2022, 83.8 million new infections were registered (counting the two types of hepatitis), which is equivalent to 27.5% of its population. Second-place India already has significantly fewer new cases, with 35.3 million total infections (11.6%), while Indonesia falls to 18.9 million (6.2%). Then, always on the Asian continent, they are followed by Bangladesh with 8.3 million cases, Vietnam, 7.4 million, the Philippines, 6.1 million and Russia with 4.3 million, in all cases less than 2.5%. of new infections detected.

According to the WHO report, until 2026 “there is a window of opportunity to put the global response to hepatitis B and C back on track towards achieving the sustainable development goals” of the United Nations, after the years of the pandemic. that slowed down health systems around the world. To reduce hepatitis cases, however, it is necessary, in the next two years, to “treat approximately 40 million people affected by hepatitis B and administer treatment to approximately 30 million people affected by hepatitis C,” he continues. the document.Despite consistent improvements in the diagnosis of the disease, the cost of treatments in some countries remains prohibitive, with large differences from one country to another. In Pakistan, for example, the lowest price was recorded for a 12-week treatment with daclatasvir and sofosbuvir – two drugs used for hepatitis C – costing around $33. But in China the price rises to 10 thousand dollars, the highest in the world. And while hepatitis B drugs in China and India cost around $1.20, well below the world average, in Russia, on the other hand, they cost more than $34. On the other hand, new generation drugs (called TAF, which replace the previous TDF) have not been approved in all countries in the world, which generates enormous disparities.