WHO Lists Bangladesh Among Top 10 for Hepatitis C Burden

The World Health Organization (WHO) has urged Bangladesh to take urgent steps to expand access to hepatitis prevention, testing and treatment, saying millions of people still face barriers to essential healthcare services.

Ahead of World Hepatitis Day on July 28, the UN health agency said Bangladesh is among the 10 countries with the highest number of people living with hepatitis C globally.

Chronic viral hepatitis remains one of the world’s leading infectious disease killers, causing an estimated 1.3 million deaths every year, mainly due to liver cirrhosis and liver cancer.

Hepatitis B and C account for around 95% of all viral hepatitis-related deaths worldwide and continue to spread silently, causing about 6,000 new infections and 3,500 deaths every day.

In the WHO South-East Asia Region, an estimated 43 million people are living with viral hepatitis. In 2024, the region recorded around 266,000 new hepatitis B and C infections and 200,000 hepatitis-related deaths.

WHO said the prevalence of active hepatitis C infection in Bangladesh’s general population is estimated at around 0.6%, with a significantly higher burden among key populations and vulnerable groups, including Rohingya refugees.

Bangladesh also carries a high burden of hepatitis B and is among the 10 countries that together accounted for 69% of global hepatitis B-related deaths in 2024.

Despite the availability of hepatitis B vaccination and effective treatments for hepatitis B and C, major barriers continue to limit access to healthcare services, including late diagnosis, lack of awareness, stigma, discrimination and limited availability of affordable testing and treatment.

"Hepatitis is preventable, treatable and, in the case of hepatitis C, curable. Yet too many people continue to miss out on lifesaving services because they are diagnosed too late or cannot access timely testing and treatment," said Dr Ahmed Jamsheed Mohamed, WHO Representative to Bangladesh.

WHO said Bangladesh has shown strong commitment to eliminating viral hepatitis as a public health threat through initiatives such as the National Strategic Plan 2020–2030, expanded hepatitis B birth-dose vaccination, increased testing and treatment services, and evidence-based policymaking.

However, the agency identified four priority areas to accelerate progress: strengthening prevention measures, expanding testing and treatment access, decentralising hepatitis services, and improving surveillance and data systems.

WHO said integrating hepatitis services into primary healthcare, antenatal care, blood services and HIV and tuberculosis programmes would help increase early diagnosis and ensure wider access to treatment.

The agency also stressed the need to make hepatitis C treatment available beyond specialised facilities and ensure affordable access to diagnostics and medicines.

WHO said stronger data collection on hepatitis infections, treatment outcomes, cirrhosis and liver cancer would be essential to track progress towards Bangladesh’s goal of eliminating viral hepatitis as a public health threat by 2030.

"Bangladesh has demonstrated strong commitment to tackling viral hepatitis and is well positioned to accelerate progress towards elimination," Dr Ahmed Jamsheed Mohamed said.

WHO added that expanding prevention, testing and treatment services would help Bangladesh save lives, reduce the burden of liver disease and move closer to the 2030 elimination target.