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WHO Says COVID-19 Threatens Gains on Hepatitis

Lisa Schlein

   GENEVA - The World Health Organization warns that the COVID-19 pandemic
   is threatening gains made in eliminating Hepatitis B and C, which cause
   liver damage and liver cancer. In observance of World Hepatitis Day
   Tuesday, the WHO is calling for action to stop transmission of viral
   hepatitis from mother-to-child.

   Around 325 million people globally live with hepatitis B or C and an
   estimated one-point-three million people die of this viral disease each
   year. The World Health Organization reports the proportion of children
   under age five chronically infected with hepatitis B has dropped from
   five percent to under one percent since the 1980s. This, thanks to the
   availability of a safe and effective vaccine.

   WHO Director-General, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus considers this a big
   achievement. He says progress toward the elimination of the disease is
   being made in Asia where childhood hepatitis B immunization coverage is
   high.

   "However, progress is being hampered by low coverage of hepatitis B
   vaccine in some regions, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, where many
   children still miss out on the all-important vaccine dose at birth,"
   Tedros said. "One of the most significant challenges we face in
   eliminating hepatitis B is mother-to-children transmission."

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