World Hepatitis Day 2022: History, significance and all you need to know

World Hepatitis Day is celebrated annually on 28 July with an aim to make people aware of the global burden of viral hepatitis and to advocate real change by promoting prevention, diagnosis and treatment of the same. Hepatitis is one such illness that leads to inflammation of the liver tissue and affects hundreds of millions of individuals globally.

Hepatitis refers to a group of infectious diseases that are known by its different variants, like A, B, C, D, and E. Hepatitis is usually caused by a viral infection, but involves different risk factors like excessive alcohol consumption, some medications, toxins, and certain medical conditions.

History

World Hepatitis Day was recognised after a resolution on May 2010 during the 63rd World Health Assembly. The day is marked on 28 July to honour the birthday of Nobel Laureate Baruch Samuel Blumberg, who discovered the hepatitis B virus and even created a diagnostic test and vaccination for it.

Significance

The world at present is facing a new outbreak of unexplained acute hepatitis infections that are majorly affecting children. WHO, along with scientists and policymakers in affected countries, are trying to understand the cause of this infection as it does not appear to belong to any of the different types of hepatitis viruses: A,B,C,D, and E.

This new outbreak focuses on the thousands of acute viral hepatitis infections that are happening among children, adults, and adolescents every year. Most of the acute hepatitis infections lead to a mild disease that often go undetected. But in some of the cases, these can cause complications and be fatal. WHO mentions that in 2019 alone, around 78,000 deaths happened worldwide because of complications related to acute hepatitis A to E infections.

Global efforts give priority to the elimination of the hepatitis B, C and D infections. Unlike acute viral hepatitis, these three infections lead to chronic hepatitis that lasts for several decades and culminate in over one million deaths per year that happen because of cirrhosis and liver cancer.

These three types of chronic hepatitis infections are accountable for over 95 percent of hepatitis deaths. While we have the tools to diagnose, treat, and prevent the infection, these services are many times not in the reach of communities and are sometimes only accessible at centralised/specialised hospitals.

Theme

On World Hepatitis Day 2022, WHO is focusing on the need for bringing hepatitis care closer to the primary health facilities and communities so that the public has better access to treatment and care, no matter the type of hepatitis they suffer from.