Closing the gaps in Asia’s fight against hepatitis
Hepatitis B remains a major public health concern in Asia Pacific, with over two-thirds of the world’s 260 million people living with chronic hepatitis B. The region also accounts for nearly half of the global hepatitis C burden. Timely birth-dose vaccination and public e…
Intelligence analysis by Llama
Hepatitis B and C are major public health concerns in Asia Pacific, with over two-thirds of the world’s 260 million people living with chronic hepatitis B. Timely birth-dose vaccination and public education can help reduce mother-to-child transmission and stigma surrounding the disease. Integrating hepatitis screening and care into primary healthcare settings could help more patients …
Hepatitis is a disease that makes your liver sick. It's like having a bad cold that can make your liver hurt. If you get hepatitis, you might not feel sick right away, but it can make your liver hurt later. Doctors can give you medicine to make the sickness go away. But if you don't get treated, hepatitis can make your liver hurt a lot and even make you sick. So, it's good to get tested for hepatitis and get treated if you have it.
Analysis
A $60B Vote of Confidence
The World Health Organization’s 2026 Global Hepatitis Report highlights the need for countries to scale up prevention, diagnosis, and treatment to meet its 2030 elimination targets. The report emphasizes that hepatitis B remains a major public health concern in Asia Pacific, with over two-thirds of the world’s 260 million people living with chronic hepatitis B. The region also accounts for nearly half of the global hepatitis C burden. Timely birth-dose vaccination and public education can help reduce mother-to-child transmission and stigma surrounding the disease. However, gaps in awareness, screening, and access to treatment have allowed infections to persist across generations. The prevalence of hepatitis B in Asia Pacific is partly linked to historically high rates of mother-to-child transmission, before vaccination and prevention systems were fully established in many countries. Gaps in awareness, screening, and access to treatment have allowed infections to persist across generations.
Why Cursor?
Public education and community-led initiatives can help make hepatitis easier to understand and talk about. Awareness efforts such as Behind the Silence, supported by Gilead Sciences and developed in collaboration with the World Hepatitis Alliance, encourage more open conversations about the disease – an important step towards getting more people tested and treated. Integrating hepatitis screening and care into primary healthcare settings could help more patients be diagnosed earlier, linked to treatment sooner and receive care in a setting that feels less stigmatising. Dr Janus Ong, a gastroenterologist, transplant hepatologist, and associate professor at the University of the Philippines Manila, explained that the prevalence of hepatitis B in Asia Pacific is partly linked to historically high rates of mother-to-child transmission, before vaccination and prevention systems were fully established in many countries.
The Road Ahead
The World Health Organization’s 2026 Global Hepatitis Report emphasizes the need for countries to scale up prevention, diagnosis, and treatment to meet its 2030 elimination targets. The report highlights the importance of timely birth-dose vaccination and public education in reducing mother-to-child transmission and stigma surrounding the disease. Integrating hepatitis screening and care into primary healthcare settings could help more patients be diagnosed earlier and receive care in a setting that feels less stigmatising. Dr Ong added that public education and community-led initiatives can help make hepatitis easier to understand and talk about. Awareness efforts such as Behind the Silence can encourage more open conversations about the disease – an important step towards getting more people tested and treated.
Key points
- Hepatitis B remains a major public health concern in Asia Pacific, with over two-thirds of the world’s 260 million people living with chronic hepatitis B.
- The region also accounts for nearly half of the global hepatitis C burden.
- Timely birth-dose vaccination and public education can help reduce mother-to-child transmission and stigma surrounding the disease.
- Integrating hepatitis screening and care into primary healthcare settings could help more patients be diagnosed earlier and receive care in a setting that feels less stigmatising.
If more people get tested and treated for hepatitis, it could help prevent liver cancer and premature deaths. Public education and community-led initiatives can help make hepatitis easier to understand and talk about, encouraging more open conversations about the disease. Integrating hepatitis screening and care into primary healthcare settings could help more patients be diagnosed earlier and receive care in a setting that feels less stigmatising.
If hepatitis remains undetected and untreated, it can progress silently over time to cirrhosis, liver failure, and liver cancer. The stigma surrounding the disease can make it difficult for people to speak openly about hepatitis and seek care. Public education and community-led initiatives can help reduce stigma and encourage more open conversations about the disease.
