28th July, 2025, World Hepatitis day

World Hepatitis Day, observed every year on 28 July, raises global awareness of viral hepatitis and promotes prevention, testing, treatment, and vaccination.

The date commemorates the birth of Dr. Baruch Blumberg, who discovered the hepatitis B virus and developed the first vaccine against it. As of 2022, approximately 304 million people worldwide are living with chronic hepatitis B or C infection.

An estimated 2.2 million new infections and 1.3 million deaths occurred in the same year, with Hepatitis B Virus (HBV ) accounting for the majority of the deaths.

In 2016, WHO established the goal of eliminating viral hepatitis as a public health threat by 2030, aiming for a 90% reduction in new infections and a 65% reduction in mortality from 2015 levels.

There has been slow progress to achieving this target and some of the barriers include low healthcare access, particularly in low- and middle-income countries, insufficient vaccination coverage especially the hepatitis B birth dose in regions such as Africa and limited public awareness.

The 2025 theme, “Take Action. Test, Treat, and Vaccinate,” calls for urgent action to scale up testing, ensure access to affordable antiviral and curative therapies, and improve vaccine coverage to meet global elimination targets