Efforts to eliminate hepatitis delivers gains but more action needed to meet 2030 targets

Key points

• Global efforts to combat viral hepatitis are delivering measurable progress in reducing infections and deaths, but the disease remains a major global health challenge, according to a new World Health Organization (WHO) report released today at the World Hepatitis Summit.
• Viral hepatitis B and C – the two infections responsible for 95% of hepatitis-related deaths worldwide – claimed 1.34 million lives in 2024, the latest data show.
• At the same time, transmission continues, with more than 4900 new infections every day, or 1.8 million each year.
• The 2026 Global hepatitis report documents significant gains made since 2015. The annual number of new hepatitis B infections has dropped by 32% and hepatitis C-related deaths have fallen by 12% globally.
• Hepatitis B prevalence among children under five has also decreased to 0.6%, with 85 countries achieving or surpassing the 2030 target of 0.1%.