The World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) are calling for urgent action to dismantle the financial, social, and systemic barriers \u2013 including stigma \u2013 that stand in the way of hepatitis elimination and liver cancer prevention, as part of this year\u2019s World Hepatitis Day campaign, \u201cHepatitis: Let\u2019s Break It Down\u201d.<\/p>\r\n
IARC is also highlighting the recent classification of hepatitis D virus as carcinogenic to humans (Group 1) by the IARC Monographs<\/em> programme.<\/p>\r\n Hepatitis D virus is one of the five main strains of hepatitis virus, referred to as types A, B, C, D, and E, and it joins types B and C in the list of carcinogens as evaluated by the IARC Monographs<\/em> programme. Chronic infection with viral hepatitis causes 1.3 million deaths per year \u2013 about 3500 deaths every day \u2013 even though most cases of hepatitis are preventable, treatable, and, in the case of hepatitis C, curable.<\/p>\r\n Investing in timely diagnosis and integrated, people-centred care could prevent 2.8 million deaths and end hepatitis as a public health problem by 2030. National health systems need to simplify, scale up, and integrate hepatitis services, such as vaccination, safe injection practices, harm reduction, and especially testing and treatment, to save lives and stop liver cancer before it starts.<\/p>\r\n Visit the WHO World Hepatitis Day 2025 website<\/a><\/p>\r\n Find out more about the IARC Monographs<\/em> classification of hepatitis D virus<\/a><\/p>\r\n