PUTTING AN END TO HEPATITIS B

Screening, vaccination and destigmatisation are essential to eliminating a disease that affects 29 million Indians

- BY DR SHIV K. SARIN

Every 30 seconds, globally, someone dies from hepatitis-related liver infections—amounting to 1.3 million deaths annually as per WHO 2024 estimates. The Hepatitis B Virus (HBV) alone contributes to nearly 900,000 of these deaths, mostly due to cirrhosis and liver cancer. That's more than malaria, and approaching tuberculosis levels. The virus is carried by an estimated 29 million Indians—the second-highest number globally. And yet, despite having a protective vaccine and effective antivirals for over three decades, we have failed to eliminate it. Why?

The painful truth: doctors have failed to engage society. We treated HBV as a medical issue, not a societal one like COVID-19, HIV or tuberculosis. For most people, the infection lasts less than six months. For others, it can get chronic and seriously damage the liver. Shockingly, less than 10 per cent of infected individuals are diagnosed; stigma around sexual transmission of the virus has led to under 5 per cent receiving treatment. This ignorance is far from bliss. The HBV can spread through blood, semen, saliva and other bodily fluids, as well as maternally. But the infected are not at fault.