Programme managers and staff from Ministries of Health; community and civil society partners; distinguished experts, WHO colleagues,
A very good morning.
It is a pleasure to join you to mark World Hepatitis Day, which this year focuses on realizing a hepatitis-free future that is healthier and more sustainable for all.
To achieve that goal, we must eliminate hepatitis as a public health threat by 2030.
At present, the WHO South-East Asia Region accounts for around 15% of global hepatitis B and C morbidity, and around 30% of global hepatitis mortality.
That equates to around 39 million cases of hepatitis B, 10 million cases of hepatitis C, and 410 000 annual hepatitis-related deaths – more than HIV, TB or malaria.
I commend Member States for the progress they have made in implementing the Regional Action Plan on Viral Hepatitis, which is aligned with the Global Health Sector Strategy on Viral Hepatitis, and will accelerate progress towards the Region’s Flagship Priorities, WHO’s “triple billion” targets and Sustainable Development Goal 3.3.
Almost all countries have now developed and are implementing national strategic plans that provide key guidance on hepatitis testing and treatment, and blood and injection safety.
All countries have at least three doses of hepatitis B vaccine in their national immunization schedule, with the Region achieving a 91% coverage rate.
Eight countries now provide the hepatitis B birth dose.
Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal and Thailand have already been verified to have achieved the 2020 hepatitis B control target, which all Member States are striving for.
Policy-makers across the Region are supporting key populations through community outreach and by implementing opioid substitution therapy and safe injection programmes.
Direct-acting antiviral drugs, which can cure hepatitis in 85-95% of cases, are becoming more affordable in several of the Region’s Member States, with costs coming down to as low as US$ 40 for a 12-week course.
With access to appropriate medicines, hepatitis B can now be managed like any other chronic illness.
We must sustain and accelerate progress as together we continue to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. To do that, we must not only maintain essential health services, including for hepatitis, but also strengthen them.
It is my pleasure to hereby launch a set of 17 training modules on hepatitis B and C screening, diagnosis and treatment.
The modules were developed by experts and collaborating centers from the WHO South-East Asia and Western Pacific regions, and then field tested through two partner-supported workshops.
They are designed to strengthen the capacity of health care providers at all levels – including at the periphery – to provide quality services for hepatitis diagnosis and treatment, which is essential to finding the “missing millions” and ensuring all people with hepatitis can avoid unnecessary morbidity and mortality.
The 17 modules will be published on both WHO SEARO and WPRO websites to promote maximum access and uptake. Where appropriate, the modules should be adapted to the local context and supplemented with local evidence-based practices.
I encourage all Member States and partners to leverage the modules as part of Region-wide efforts to scale up diagnosis and treatment within a universal care package.
Soon-to-be-released global guidance on the prevention of mother-to-child transmission of hepatitis B will complement the roll-out of the modules and our elimination efforts.
The guidance recommends all pregnant women be tested for hepatitis B and, where necessary, treated, and for every newborn to receive the hepatitis B birth dose.
If adequately harnessed, the guidance will help all countries move towards the triple elimination of mother-to-child transmission of HIV, syphilis and hepatitis B.
I thank the WHO collaborating center for viral hepatitis at Sanjay Gandhi Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences, Lucknow, India and the WHO collaborating center for chronic hepatitis and liver cancer, Kanazawa University, Kanazawa, Japan for their technical assistance in the development of the training modules.
Together we can sustain and accelerate momentum to achieve a hepatitis-free future that is healthier and more sustainable for all.
I wish you an inspiring World Hepatitis Day and reiterate WHO’s unflagging commitment to supporting your efforts throughout the pandemic and beyond.
Thank you.