The World Health Organization, WHO, says about 3,500 people die from the hepatitis virus every day, while the global toll continues to rise.
WHO on Tuesday, called for swift action to fight the second-largest infectious killer every day.
New data from 187 countries indicated that the number of deaths from viral hepatitis rose to 1.3 million in 2022 from 1.1 million in 2019, according to a WHO report released to coincide with the World Hepatitis Summit in Portugal this week.
Meg Doherty, head of the WHO’s global HIV, hepatitis and sexually transmitted infection programmes, in a press conference, noted that the situation is alarming.
The report explained, “there are 3,500 deaths per day worldwide from hepatitis infections — 83 percent from hepatitis B, 17 percent from hepatitis C.”
It stated that there are effective and cheap generic drugs which can treat these viruses, saying that only three percent of those with chronic hep B received antiviral treatment by the end of 202.
The report said for Hepatitis C, 20 percent or 12.5 million people had been treated, explaining that the results fall well below the global targets to treat 80 percent of all people living with chronic hepatitis B and C by 2030.
He explained that the overall rate of hepatitis infections did fall slightly.
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