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The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned that Bangladesh remains one of the 10 countries with the highest number of people living with hepatitis C, urging the government and health partners to accelerate efforts to expand prevention, testing and treatment services to eliminate viral hepatitis as a public health threat by 2030.
Ahead of World Hepatitis Day, observed annually on July 28, the UN health agency said millions of people continue to miss out on lifesaving hepatitis services because of late diagnosis, inadequate access to affordable testing and treatment, and persistent stigma and discrimination.
WHO said chronic viral hepatitis remains one of the world’s deadliest infectious diseases, claiming an estimated 1.3 million lives every year, primarily through liver cirrhosis and liver cancer.
Hepatitis B and C together account for about 95 percent of all hepatitis-related deaths worldwide, while the diseases continue to spread largely unnoticed, causing an estimated 6,000 new infections and 3,500 deaths every day.
The burden is also substantial across the WHO South-East Asia Region, where an estimated 43 million people are living with viral hepatitis. In 2024 alone, the region recorded around 266,000 new hepatitis B and C infections and 200,000 hepatitis-related deaths, according to WHO.
Bangladesh faces one of the region’s heaviest disease burdens.
WHO said the prevalence of active hepatitis C infection in the country’s general population is estimated at 0.6 percent, but infection rates are considerably higher among vulnerable and underserved communities, including Rohingya refugees, people with limited healthcare access and other high-risk groups.
The agency also highlighted Bangladesh’s significant hepatitis B burden, noting that the country is among the 10 nations that together accounted for 69 percent of global hepatitis B-related deaths in 2024.
The findings underscore the urgent need to strengthen prevention and treatment efforts despite the availability of highly effective hepatitis B vaccines and medicines that can successfully manage hepatitis B and cure hepatitis C.
“Hepatitis is preventable, treatable and, in the case of hepatitis C, curable. Yet too many people continue to miss out on the services they need because they are diagnosed too late or cannot access timely testing and treatment,” said Dr Ahmed Jamsheed Mohamed, WHO Representative to Bangladesh.
“This World Hepatitis Day, WHO calls for accelerated action to break down the barriers that continue to prevent people from accessing lifesaving hepatitis prevention, testing and treatment services,” he added.
WHO acknowledged Bangladesh’s progress in recent years, citing the government’s adoption of the National Strategic Plan for Viral Hepatitis 2020-2030, expanded hepatitis B birth-dose vaccination, broader testing and treatment services, and efforts to strengthen evidence-based policymaking with WHO’s technical support.
These initiatives, the agency said, have positioned Bangladesh to make meaningful progress towards eliminating viral hepatitis as a public health threat by the end of the decade.
However, WHO warned that several challenges continue to undermine those efforts.
Low public awareness, delayed diagnosis, limited access to affordable diagnostic services and medicines, stigma surrounding hepatitis, and unequal availability of healthcare services, particularly in remote and underserved communities, remain major obstacles.
To overcome these challenges, WHO outlined four priority areas for Bangladesh.
The first is strengthening prevention by maintaining high hepatitis B vaccination coverage, ensuring timely birth-dose vaccination for newborns, improving blood safety and injection practices, and increasing public awareness through clear and accurate health communication.
The second priority is expanding access to testing and treatment by integrating hepatitis services into primary healthcare, maternal and antenatal care, blood transfusion services, and HIV and tuberculosis programmes.
According to WHO, integrating hepatitis care into routine health services would help detect infections earlier while ensuring more equitable access to treatment, especially for vulnerable populations.
The third priority focuses on decentralising hepatitis services by making simplified hepatitis C treatment available beyond specialist hospitals and improving access to affordable diagnostic tests and medicines.
Such community-based care models, WHO said, can reduce delays in diagnosis and treatment while increasing the number of patients receiving timely care closer to their homes.
The fourth recommendation calls for strengthening disease surveillance and health information systems through routine recording of hepatitis testing, confirmed infections, treatment outcomes, liver cirrhosis and liver cancer cases.
WHO said stronger surveillance is essential for accurately measuring the disease burden, identifying populations most at risk, guiding policy decisions and monitoring Bangladesh’s progress towards its 2030 elimination target.
Dr Ahmed Jamsheed Mohamed praised Bangladesh’s commitment to combating viral hepatitis and reaffirmed WHO’s continued support.
“Bangladesh has demonstrated strong commitment to tackling viral hepatitis and is well positioned to accelerate progress towards elimination,” he said.
“WHO is proud to support the Government’s efforts and will continue to provide technical assistance to expand access to prevention, testing and treatment, strengthen health systems and ensure that no one is left behind.”
As countries mark World Hepatitis Day 2026, WHO said Bangladesh has a unique opportunity to significantly reduce liver disease, save thousands of lives and move closer to achieving its commitment to eliminate viral hepatitis as a public health threat by 2030.
