Geneva: The World Health Organization (WHO) has sounded a global alarm on the rising toll of viral hepatitis, warning that more than 1.3 million people die each year—largely from liver cirrhosis and cancer—and called for urgent action to eliminate hepatitis as a public health threat.
On World Hepatitis Day 2025, WHO announced that Hepatitis D has now been officially classified as carcinogenic to humans, in the same category as Hepatitis B and C, by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC).
“Every 30 seconds, someone dies from a hepatitis-related severe liver disease or liver cancer. Yet we have the tools to stop hepatitis,” said WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Hepatitis D, which only affects individuals already infected with Hepatitis B, poses a two- to six-fold higher risk of liver cancer compared to Hepatitis B alone. WHO officials described the reclassification as a critical step to raise awareness and accelerate access to screening and emerging treatments for Hepatitis D.
Dr. Meg Doherty, incoming Director of Science for Health at WHO, noted that new WHO guidelines issued in 2024 have expanded testing and diagnosis for Hepatitis B and D. She added that the agency is actively monitoring outcomes of innovative therapies now in clinical use for Hepatitis D.
While curative oral treatments for Hepatitis C exist and lifelong therapies can effectively suppress Hepatitis B, WHO emphasized that the fight against liver-related deaths can only be won by rapidly expanding vaccination, testing, harm reduction, and treatment services, particularly in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).
Global progress is evident, with the number of countries with national hepatitis action plans jumping from 59 to 123 in 2025, and 129 nations now offering Hepatitis B screening to pregnant women. Moreover, 147 countries have introduced the birth dose of Hepatitis B vaccine, up from 138 in 2022.
Still, enormous gaps remain. According to WHO’s 2024 Global Hepatitis Report, only 13% of people with Hepatitis B and 36% with Hepatitis C had been diagnosed by 2022. Treatment rates were even lower—just 3% for Hepatitis B and 20% for Hepatitis C—falling far short of the 2025 targets of 60% diagnosed and 50% treated.
Integration of hepatitis services into existing health systems is also patchy: only 80 countries have embedded hepatitis care into primary healthcare, 128 into HIV programs, and just 27 have introduced hepatitis C services into harm reduction centres.
WHO estimates that achieving its 2030 targets could save 2.8 million lives and prevent 9.8 million new infections. However, with declining donor support, countries must now invest their own resources, improve service integration, expand affordable medicine access, and fight stigma associated with the disease.
To support this push, WHO is partnering with Rotary International and the World Hepatitis Alliance under this year’s theme “Hepatitis: Let’s break it down.” The campaign aims to dismantle barriers to care and urges governments to take bold steps to prevent further liver cancer deaths.
Through joint outreach and advocacy efforts, the global health body is emphasizing the essential role of civil society, local communities, and government leadership in ending hepatitis as a public health threat by 2030.
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