World Hepatitis Day WHO advises hepatitis B vaccine for all newborns

WHO measures to combat viral hepatitis
On the occasion of World Hepatitis Day, the World Health Organization (WHO) set out the global strategy for eliminating hepatitis, among other things advocating vaccinating all newborns for hepatitis B. Action is urgently needed to curb the spread of hepatitis.

WHO's first global health strategy to eliminate viral hepatitis by 2021 was launched last year, but its achievements so far are manageable. On the occasion of World Hepatitis Day, the WHO is therefore committed to a timely implementation of various measures. For example, all neonates worldwide should be vaccinated against hepatitis B..

WHO is committed to strengthening the fight against viral hepatitis. (Image: Dr_Kateryna / fotolia.com)

More than 1.3 million hepatitis deaths per year
According to the WHO, viral hepatitis is one of the biggest global health problems. In 2015, an estimated 257 million people have hepatitis B infection and 71 million people have hepatitis C. Viral hepatitis caused 1.34 million deaths in the same year, comparable to the number of tuberculosis deaths, for example. In addition, the numbers of hepatitis deaths are rising.

70 percent of infections in 28 countries
According to the WHO, around 50 percent of chronic hepatitis diseases are caused by only eleven countries: Brazil, China, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nigeria, Pakistan, Uganda and Vietnam. If Cambodia, Cameroon, Colombia, Ethiopia, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Morocco, Nepal, Peru, the Philippines, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Tanzania, Thailand, Ukraine, Uzbekistan and Zimbabwe are included as a further 17 countries, 70 percent of tuberculosis cases are in them States record. According to WHO, there is a significant need for action in these 28 most affected countries.

Vaccination for newborns
In Germany, the Hepatitis B vaccination for infants has been recommended since 1995 by the Standing Vaccination Commission (STIKO) of the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) and is part of the vaccination, which takes place at the age of two months. In certain cases of risk, vaccination is also carried out immediately after birth. Especially in the countries most affected by hepatitis, such vaccinations are still poorly implemented. At the same time, infected people, especially in low- and middle-income countries, have little access to routine diagnostic tests and adequate treatment, the WHO reports.

Only a few sufferers receive treatment
By the end of 2015, WHO estimates that only nine percent of people with hepatitis B infection and 20 percent of those infected with hepatitis C have been tested and diagnosed, but most are unaware of their condition. Of the patients with hepatitis B diagnosis, eight percent (or 1.7 million people) have been treated for their disease, in hepatitis C cases it was seven percent of patients (or 1.1 million people). The aim is to ensure by the year 2030 that 90 percent of people are tested for hepatitis B and C infections and at least 80 percent receive appropriate treatment.

1.75 new hepatitis C infections
For new infections, most cases are due to hepatitis C infections, WHO reports. In 2015, approximately 1.75 million adults were re-infected with hepatitis C, many of them drug users who have been infected with contaminants through contaminated syringes. According to information from the RKI, 4,368 hepatitis C infections occurred in Germany in 2016 (compared to 3,005 in 2016 for hepatitis B infections). Here, too, the most important mode of transmission is intravenous drug use (80% of cases).