Honor promise of hepatitis treatment

There is much to celebrate as China marked World Hepatitis Day this week. A large-scale immunization program has led to the current generation of Chinese children being virtually hepatitis B free. In the past year, major policy developments have paved the way for significantly easier access to treatment for both hepatitis B and C. Now, we need to translate the promise of better access to treatment into reality for all.

About 100 million people in China are still living with chronic hepatitis B or C infection. That is one in 13 people! And the majority are unaware of the fact, making hepatitis a truly "silent epidemic". Without treatment, up to one-third will develop life-threatening illnesses such as cirrhosis and liver cancer. All told, there will be about 10 million deaths among people living with chronic hepatitis B and C in the next 15 years.

Effective treatments for chronic hepatitis exist. There are now drugs available for hepatitis B infection that can reverse the damage to the liver and reduce the risk of liver cancer. For hepatitis C, direct-acting antiviral (DAA) medicines can actually cure the infection and get rid of the virus completely - with just a three-month course of treatment.