World Hepatitis Day 2026: Latest publications and insights from WHO, ECDC and partners

World Hepatitis Day is observed each year on 28 July to raise awareness of viral hepatitis, an inflammation of the liver that causes severe liver disease and liver cancer.

The World Hepatitis Day 2026 theme, Hepatitis: Let’s break it down, is a call to remove the barriers that stand between people and the services that can save their lives. Viral hepatitis continues to be a major cause of preventable illness and death worldwide.

The tools needed to eliminate viral hepatitis already exist. Effective vaccines, accurate diagnostics, curative treatments for hepatitis C, and lifelong therapies for hepatitis B can prevent infections, save lives, and reduce liver cancer and cirrhosis. Despite this, millions of people remain undiagnosed, untreated, or unable to access care due to stigma, limited awareness, health system gaps, and persistent inequalities.

The 2026 campaign calls for turning proven science into action through stronger political commitment, sustained investment, and efforts to expand equitable access to prevention, testing, treatment, and care.

For more information, visit the World Health Organization (WHO)’s campaign page and read the WHO World Hepatitis Day 2026 newsletter.

ECDC press release

World Hepatitis Day 2026: Despite progress towards eliminating hepatitis in Europe, gaps in prevention measures keep 2030 targets out of reach

While Europe has made steady progress in preventing hepatitis B and C, with the prevalence of hepatitis B now at near-zero levels among children below five years old, an uneven implementation of key measures means that the region is set to miss the 2030 target to eliminate viral hepatitis as a public health threat, according to new data from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) on World Hepatitis Day.

Access the ECDC reports here.

The Lancet Gastroenterology & Hepatology comment

WHO global hepatitis report 2026: guiding global action for elimination

The Lancet Gastroenterology & Hepatology published a comment highlighting the WHO Global Hepatitis Report 2026 as a crucial accountability tool to track progress and close gaps in prevention, testing, and treatment. The authors emphasize that the tools to eliminate viral hepatitis already exist — the primary challenge now is ensuring they equitably reach the communities that need them most.

JIAS viewpoint 

Reimagining hepatitis C elimination: Time for actions, not targets

To mark World Hepatitis Day 2026, the Journal of the International AIDS Society (JIAS) published a viewpoint calling for renewed commitment towards HCV elimination through increased investments and financing of national strategies. The authors outline the key challenges and recommend concrete actions along the HCV care cascade to achieve elimination. Ultimately, they affirm the need for “advocacy from civil society partnered with the research and clinical communities to force governments to act”.

CHAI report

Hepatitis C elimination works: ten years of evidence from seven countries

The Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI) released Lessons from a decade of progress: reigniting momentum for hepatitis C elimination, a new report marking ten years of CHAI-supported hepatitis C programs in Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Myanmar, Nigeria, Rwanda, and Vietnam. Since 2016, these programs have screened 25.4 million people, cured an estimated 473,000, and helped drive the cost of a complete cure down by over 88 percent.

Unitaid story

A faster path to a cure: simplifying hepatitis C care for people who inject drugs

A Unitaid-backed study in Armenia, Georgia and Tanzania is testing how much faster hepatitis C care can move when it is designed around the patient, cutting the wait between a positive test and the first dose of treatment.