African countries will prioritise plans to eliminate hepatitis, according to a declaration signed and adopted this week at the African Viral Hepatitis Conference in Cape Town.
Hosted by the Gastroenterology and Hepatology Association of Sub-Saharan Africa GHASSA) in conjunction with the International Hepato-Pancreato Biliary Association (IHPBA), the conference highlighted the need to eliminate hepatitis B and C, which have infected millions of South Africans and can cause liver cancer if left untreated, writes Liezl Human for GroundUp.
The WHO says Africa accounts for 63% of all new hepatitis B infections, and yet only 18% of newborns in the region receive the hepatitis B birth-dose vaccination.
In South Africa, 2.8m people are infected with hepatitis B and 240 000 have chronic hepatitis C. Of those with hepatitis B, only about 23% have been diagnosed.
South Africa’s national Health Department deputy director-general Anban Pillay conceded the gaps in the government’s programme, saying that at a national level, guidelines around hepatitis education and treatment can be created, but ”there has to be advocacy at a local level” too.
He said they would identify and implement interventions that have worked in other countries.
On the final day of the conference, a declaration was adopted and signed by all attendees, aimed at the “immediate prioritisation of national elimination plans”, allocation of resources domestically, and the political commitment to eliminate hepatitis.
“As a community of people with viral hepatitis, as advocates for those living with the disease, healthcare workers, academics and those who simply care, we say no more … All the tools to eliminate viral hepatitis are available and are uncomplicated interventions,” the declaration read.
The convention came hard on the heels of a WHO 2024 global hepatitis report stating that global deaths were on the rise and that 1.3m people died of viral hepatitis in 2022, with hepatitis B causing 83% and hepatitis C causing 17% of deaths.
In Africa, 300 000 people died from hepatitis B and C, despite having the “knowledge and tools to prevent, diagnose and treat viral hepatitis”.
Vaccines available for hepatitis B, and hepatitis C can be cured with medication. Hepatitis B is spread through blood and bodily fluids.
Hepatitis-related liver cancer rates and deaths are also on the rise, according to the WHO report.
At the convention, Mark Sonderup, a hepatologist at Groote Schuur Hospital, said: “Inaction now results in a bigger problem later,” while Danjuma Adda, former president of the World Hepatitis Alliance, spoke about stigma as a barrier to receiving care.
“Due to this, we have low testing because people are not motivated to be tested … We need to change the narrative,” he said.
GroundUp article – “Silent disease” outed at African Hepatitis Convention (Creative Commons Licence)
See more from MedicalBrief archives:
WHO warning on deadly viral hepatitis
New vaccines offer hope for Hepatitis B treatment in SA
Experts call for hepatitis B birth-dose vaccine
Millions of unnecessary deaths from hepatitis globally