The WHO recommends routine hepatitis B testing in pregnant women – and vaccination of babies born to infected women immediately after birth.Image: keystone
July 28, 2026, 04:51July 28, 2026, 04:51
In the fight against hepatitis, the World Health Organization (WHO) is calling for more research, more tests and treatments, and greater political commitment. According to the WHO, 287 million people worldwide live with chronic hepatitis B or chronic hepatitis C.
The two – unrelated – diseases are caused by viruses that are primarily transmitted via blood. The liver inflammation that occurs as a result of the infection can lead to serious long-term consequences such as liver cirrhosis and liver cancer.
Hepatitis B is the greater burden: around 240 million people worldwide live there, and 1.1 million die from hepatitis B every year – more than twice as many as from malaria. Around 240,000 people die from hepatitis C every year. And although the vast majority of hepatitis C diseases have been cured since 2015, only around 20 percent of those affected have been treated since then, as the WHO criticized on the occasion of World Hepatitis Day on Tuesday.
According to the Federal Office of Public Health (BAG), around 0.5 to 0.7 percent of the population in Switzerland is chronically infected with the hepatitis B virus. The number of reports of people with acute hepatitis B is showing a downward trend in this country, writes the BAG on its website. The number of people infected with hepatitis C is also declining. Depending on estimates, 0.1 to 0.4 percent of the population in Switzerland is chronically infected with the hepatitis C pathogen.
Vaccination recommended
The WHO recommends routine hepatitis B testing in pregnant women – and vaccination of babies born to infected women immediately after birth. The BAG also recommends vaccination at an early age. Vaccination of risk groups of all ages is also recommended. The federal government cites health care workers and drug users as examples. There is therefore no vaccination against hepatitis C.
A study raised hope among hepatitis experts this spring: a Chinese team succeeded for the first time in achieving a functional cure in some hepatitis B patients using combination therapy. Functional healing means that the viral load is below the detection limit – even if it could multiply again later, for example if the immune system is attacked. (sda/dpa)