GENEVA: More than 3,500 people die from hepatitis viruses every day and the global toll is rising, the World Health Organization warned on Tuesday, calling for swift action to fight the second-largest infectious killer.
New data from 187 countries showed that the number of deaths from viral hepatitis rose to 1.3 million in 2022 from 1.1 million in 2019, according to a WHO report released to coincide with the World Hepatitis Summit in Portugal this week.
These are “alarming trends,” Meg Doherty, head of the WHO’s global HIV, hepatitis and sexually-transmitted infection programs, told a press conference.
The report said that there are 3,500 deaths per day worldwide from hepatitis infections — 83 percent from hepatitis B, 17 percent from hepatitis C.
There are effective and cheap generic drugs which can treat these viruses.
Yet only three percent of those with chronic hep B received antiviral treatment by the end of 2022, the report said.
For hep C, just 20 percent — or 12.5 million people — had been treated.
“These results fall well below the global targets to treat 80 percent of all people living with chronic hep B and C by 2030,” Doherty said.
The overall rate of hepatitis infections did fall slightly.
But WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus emphasized that the report “paints a troubling picture.”
“Despite progress globally in preventing hepatitis infections, deaths are rising because far too few people with hepatitis are being diagnosed and treated,” he said in a statement.
Africa accounts for 63 percent of new hep B infections, yet less than one in five babies on the continent are vaccinated at birth, the report said.
The UN agency also lamented that the affected countries did not have enough access to generic hepatitis drugs — and often paid more than they should.
Two thirds of all hepatitis cases are in Bangladesh, China, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Philippines, Russia and Vietnam, according to the report.
“Universal access to prevention, diagnosis, and treatment in these 10 countries by 2025, alongside intensified efforts in the African region, is essential to get the global response back on track,” the WHO said in a statement.
Viral hepatitis is the second-biggest infectious killer, narrowly trailing tuberculosis.
Two-thirds of all hepatitis cases are found in 10 countries, including Pakistan— WHO report
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Two-thirds of all hepatitis cases are found in 10 countries, including Pakistan— WHO report
- Over 3,500 people die from hepatitis viruses every day, says World Health Organization
- Two-thirds of all hepatitis cases are in Pakistan, Nigeria, Bangladesh, China, India, other countries
Pakistan reviews austerity measures amid Middle East crisis, urges strict nationwide implementation
- Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar chairs review meeting of austerity steps
- Officials briefed on salary cuts, school closures, four‑day week, petrol conservation
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s government on Wednesday assessed progress on a sweeping set of austerity measures introduced to mitigate the country’s economic strain from sharply rising global oil prices and supply disruptions linked to the ongoing war in the Middle East.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif this week announced a series of austerity steps, including a four‑day work week for government offices, requiring 50 percent of staff to work from home, cutting fuel allowances for official vehicles by half, grounding up to 60 percent of the government fleet and closing all schools for two weeks to conserve fuel amid the global oil crisis.
The measures were unveiled in response to global oil market volatility triggered by the conflict involving the United States, Israel and Iran, which has disrupted supply routes such as the Strait of Hormuz and pushed crude prices sharply higher, straining Pakistan’s heavily import‑dependent energy sector.
“The meeting stressed the importance of strict and transparent adherence to the austerity measures, promoting fiscal responsibility and prudent use of public resources,” Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar said in a statement.
He was chairing a meeting of the Committee for Monitoring and Implementation of Conservation and Additional Austerity Measures, constituted under the directions of the PM, bringing together federal and provincial officials to review execution of the broad cost‑cutting plan.
Dar emphasized the government’s commitment to enforcing the PM’s austerity steps nationwide. The committee’s review also covered reductions in departmental expenditure, deductions from salaries of senior officials earning over Rs. 300,000 ($1,120), and coordination with provincial administrations to ensure uniform implementation of the plan.
Participants at the meeting reiterated that all ministries and divisions must continue strict monitoring and reporting, with transparent oversight mechanisms, as Pakistan navigates the economic pressures from the prolonged Middle East crisis and its fallout on global energy and trade markets.
