The second leading cause of death worldwide

Viral hepatitis is the second leading cause of death among non-COVID-19 communicable diseases in the world, according to the World Health Organization.

The analysis, released at the World Hepatitis Summit, which took place in Lisbon, Portugal, April 9-11, looked at the burden of viral hepatitis in 187 countries and assessed progress toward eliminating the disease.

The analysis found more than 6,000 people a day are infected with viral hepatitis. There are five main virus strains, with hepatitis B and C being the most common and hepatitis B causing the vast majority of deaths.

In 2022, viral hepatitis deaths increased to 1.3 million around the world, up from 1.1 million in 2019. 

Two-thirds of the global disease burden falls on 10 countries: China, India, Indonesia, Nigeria, Pakistan, Ethiopia, Bangladesh, Vietnam, the Philippines and Russia. Inequities in primary care access, medication availability, testing and vaccination contribute to the burden in these countries, the report said.

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