World Hepatitis Day 2026: WHO/Europe reports progress against hepatitis but gaps in diagnosis and treatment
On World Hepatitis Day, 28 July 2026, WHO/Europe said the European Region has made progress against hepatitis but millions still miss diagnosis and treatment.
Key points
- WHO/Europe published the statement on World Hepatitis Day, 28 July 2026, and it concerns the WHO European Region, not the world as a whole.
- The Region has already met its hepatitis B elimination target for children under 5, with prevalence at about 0.06%.
- The Region remains off track for all of its 2030 hepatitis elimination targets.
- WHO/Europe says only 23% of people with hepatitis B have been diagnosed and 4.2% are receiving treatment.
What was announced
On World Hepatitis Day, 28 July 2026, the World Health Organization's European regional office (WHO/Europe) reported on progress against hepatitis in the WHO European Region. It says the Region has already met its hepatitis B elimination target for children under 5 years, with prevalence at about 0.06%. New hepatitis B infections are down 54% since 2015 and new hepatitis C infections are down 28%.
The Region is still off track for all of its 2030 elimination targets. WHO/Europe estimates that 9.7 million people live with hepatitis B and 5.6 million with hepatitis C in the Region, and that only 23% of people with hepatitis B have been diagnosed and 4.2% are receiving treatment.
What it means
WHO/Europe's regional adviser says the main gap is now finding people and getting them into care, rather than prevention. The 2026 World Hepatitis Day theme is "Hepatitis: Let's break it down", and the WHO is urging countries to remove barriers to testing and treatment.
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