Ahead of World Hepatitis Day 2025, Dr Elisabete Weiderpass, Director of the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), delivered a keynote address in Cairo, Egypt, highlighting IARC\u2019s research on hepatitis and liver cancer, at an event celebrating Egypt\u2019s achievement as the first country to reach World Health Organization (WHO) \u201cgold tier\u201d status on the path to elimination of hepatitis C.<\/p>\r\n
The event, hosted by the Egyptian Ministry of Health and Population, included a panel discussion on the management of hepatocellular carcinoma, the most common type of liver cancer, featuring IARC scientist Dr Partha Basu.<\/p>\r\n
Hepatitis C virus is one of the five main strains of hepatitis virus, referred to as types A, B, C, D, and E. Three of these strains \u2013 types B, C, and, most recently, D \u2013 have been classified as carcinogenic to humans (Group 1) by the IARC Monographs<\/em> programme. Chronic infection with viral hepatitis causes 1.3 million deaths every year even though most cases of hepatitis are preventable, treatable, and, in the case of hepatitis C, curable.<\/p>\r\n The example set by Egypt, which became an IARC Participating State in 2024, in becoming the first country to attain \u201cgold tier\u201d status on the path towards eliminating hepatitis C can help other countries to plan their own programmes to detect and control hepatitis C virus infection. In 2020, an estimated 7.4% of all new cases of liver cancer worldwide \u2013 equivalent to 170 000 new cases \u2013 were attributable to hepatitis C virus infection, highlighting the critical importance of eliminating hepatitis C as a cancer prevention strategy.<\/p>\r\n Visit the WHO World Hepatitis Day 2025 website<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\r\n