NEW national hepatitis elimination profiles released by global health partners have shown uneven progress towards agreed targets for eliminating viral hepatitis as a public health threat, underscoring the need for stronger policy, testing, treatment, and health system action worldwide.
Progress Toward 2030 Hepatitis Elimination Goals Remains Uneven
The World Health Organization’s Global Health Sector Strategy on HIV, viral hepatitis, and sexually transmitted infections aims to reduce new infections and hepatitis-related deaths significantly by 2030. It includes targets such as reducing incidence by 90% and mortality by 65% compared with 2015 levels through expanded vaccination, testing, and treatment access.
Recent global reports assessing progress toward these goals show that while many countries have developed national action plans and policies for viral hepatitis elimination, concrete implementation is lagging in key areas.
National Action Plans Vary in Strength and Scope
The hepatitis elimination profiles, compiled for 33 countries and territories, revealed that most have national plans that include hepatitis B and C prevention and care strategies. Around three-quarters have met interim targets for reducing hepatitis B prevalence in young children through newborn vaccination policies. However, only a minority have achieved diagnosis and treatment coverage targets for adults living with hepatitis B or C, particularly in low- and middle-income contexts.
In many settings, structural barriers such as limited access to testing, restrictive treatment criteria, and lack of point-of-care diagnostics impede progress. There is particular concern that few countries have reached the target of ensuring that at least 50% of eligible people with chronic hepatitis B receive appropriate antiviral therapy.
Implications For Hepatology and Health Systems
Experts emphasised that achieving elimination targets requires more than policy statements. It demands concrete health system actions, including expanded and simplified testing strategies in primary care and community settings, integration of hepatitis screening with other chronic disease programmes and removal of financial and access barriers to antiviral treatment.
The findings underscore that policy adoption alone is insufficient unless matched by effective implementation strategies and adequate resourcing. Efforts to reduce stigma, improve surveillance, and broaden prevention programmes were highlighted as essential to narrowing gaps in care and driving down liver disease burden globally.
Cross-Sector Collaboration Needed
Organisations such as the World Hepatitis Alliance and national liver patient associations are calling for greater collaboration between governments, clinical societies, civil society, and health systems to ensure elimination goals remain achievable. Advocacy groups emphasise that broad mobilisation can help translate policy commitments into measurable health outcomes for people at risk of chronic liver disease.
Reference
European AIDS Treatment Group. National hepatitis elimination profiles report progress and gaps. Global analysis. January 2026. Available at: https://www.eatg.org/hiv-news/new-global-reports-assess-progress-toward-hepatitis-b-and-c-elimination/. Last accessed: 27 January 2026.
