Preventable but deadly: The global burden of Hepatitis B
World Hepatitis Day is marked annually on July 28.
by WILLIAM WANYOIKE
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World Hepatitis Day is observed each year on 28 July to raise awareness of viral hepatitis, an inflammation of the liver that causes severe liver disease and liver cancer. The theme for 2025: Hepatitis: Let’s Break It Down calls for urgent action to dismantle the financial, social and systemic barriers – including stigma – that stand in the way of hepatitis elimination and liver cancer prevention. Chronic hepatitis B and C silently cause liver damage and cancer, despite them being preventable, treatable, and, in the case of hepatitis C, curable. The theme emphasises the need to simplify, scale up, and integrate hepatitis services – vaccination, safe injection practices, harm reduction and especially testing and treatment – into national health systems.
