Public Health Awareness and Elimination Programs for Viral Hepatitis: A Global Review

Abstract

Viral hepatitis, caused predominantly by hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV), remains one of the leading infectious causes of death worldwide, killing more people each year than tuberculosis and rivaling the mortality of HIV/AIDS and malaria combined in some recent estimates. In 2016, the World Health Assembly adopted the Global Health Sector Strategy (GHSS) on Viral Hepatitis, setting a target to eliminate viral hepatitis as a public health threat by 2030, defined operationally as a 90% reduction in new chronic infections and a 65% reduction in hepatitis-related mortality relative to 2015 levels. This review synthesizes current epidemiological data, the architecture of global and national elimination strategies, the role of public health awareness campaigns, and the structural gaps that continue to threaten achievement of the 2030 goal. Drawing on World Health Organization (WHO) reporting, the Lancet Gastroenterology & Hepatology Commission, and the peer-reviewed literature on hepatitis- related stigma and health communication, the review examines five interlocking program components, vaccination, prevention of mother-to-child transmission, blood and injection safety, harm reduction, and testing and treatment, alongside the awareness and demand-generation activities that determine whether these services reach the people who need them. Country experience, most notably Egypt's attainment of WHO 'gold tier' validation for hepatitis C, illustrates that elimination is technically and programmatically achievable when political commitment, affordable diagnostics and curative therapy, and sustained public communication are combined. However, global data through 2024 show that progress remains markedly uneven: birth-dose hepatitis B vaccination coverage remains far below target, diagnosis and treatment coverage gaps persist across low- and middle-income countries, and stigma continues to suppress testing uptake even where services exist. The review concludes that closing the diagnosis-and-treatment gap, accelerating timely birth-dose vaccination, and sustaining risk-group-specific, stigma-reducing awareness efforts are the most immediately actionable levers for the remaining years to 2030.