Just run a Google search for "health awareness days and events calendar", and you'll quickly discover that almost every imaginable physical mental health condition has its very own dedicated day. There are awareness days to raise the profile of other public health issues such as immunization and screening, too.
Although there is solid research to back up the idea that public health campaigns do have a positive impact in encouraging people to stop engaging in harmful behaviors or to embrace steps toward a healthier life, it's hard not to get a little cynical if, like me, you've been writing about these health awareness days for a while. Many of these awareness days, it seems, don't do much beyond getting some people to click on some infographics and worry themselves for a little while, after which they can forget all about the issue that was raised as they move onto the next awareness day.
What is viral hepatitis?
Hepatitis is a general term for liver inflammation that, if left untreated, often has the potential to cause progressive damage. Not all types of hepatitis are caused by viruses — hepatitis can also be toxic, alcoholic, or autoimmune. When hepatitis is caused by one of the five known hepatitis viruses, it is called viral hepatitis.
All hepatitis viruses — that is hepatitis A, hepatitis B, hepatitis C, hepatitis D, and hepatitis E — have their own broad characteristics, including expected severity, potential to become chronic after an acute infection, and modes of transmission. Their prevalence also varies from one part of the world to another. Hepatitis affects not just adults, but also children. Hepatitis C in children is, for instance, mostly the result of mother-to-child transmission.
Important facts anyone should be aware of include:
- Hepatitis A and E are both spread primarily through contact with contaminated water, food sources, and fecal matter. They are not the most deadly hepatitis viruses, but they can still be dangerous; the WHO estimates that just under 8,000 people died as a result of hepatitis A in 2016, while an estimated 44,000 people lost their lives to hepatitis E in 2015. There is a vaccine for hepatitis A. There is also a vaccine for hepatitis E, but it is only available in China.
- Hepatitis B is transmitted via contact with bodily fluids that include blood and reproductive fluids. It can, as such, be spread by blood transfusions, unprotected sex, getting tattoos in unsafe environments, and even visiting unsanitary dental clinics, as well as via shared needles in IV drug users. Hepatitis B may be acute or chronic. Globally, transmission from infected mother to child is the most common way to become infected, however. Hepatitis B can be prevented with a vaccine and immune globulin is also available for those who were exposed. Not everyone is able to access these life-saving measures, and the WHO estimates that 820,000 people died from causes related to hepatitis B in 2019.
- Hepatitis C is transmitted in similar ways, but no vaccine is available. Across the globe, an estimated 290,000 people died from hepatitis C in 2019.
- Hepatitis D is a unique virusoid that requires the presence of hepatitis B to replicate. As such, it can only affect people who already have hepatitis B, and around five percent of people with hepatitis B are thought to have a hepatitis D coinfection. Because of this complicating matter, it is not clear how many people lose their lives to hepatitis D. The good news is that, although there is no vaccine for hepatitis D, a hepatitis B vaccine prevents hepatitis D infection as well.
Hepatitis can't wait
This is the message the World Health Organization, and partners such as the CDC, are spreading this World Hepatitis Day. On an individual level, many people can take steps to reduce their risk of viral hepatitis — get vaccinated where possible, try to choose safe drinking water where you can, and avoid risky behaviors. For expectant mothers, thinking about how to manage hepatitis in pregnancy is also key in preventing transmission. If we're going to be honest, though, the burden of eliminating viral hepatitis does not lie with individuals, especially once you take into account that lower income countries are disproportionately affected and countless people don't have the luxury of taking preventative action.
The message the World Health Organization has for "the public" are more or less obvious; people can't wait for life-saving treatment. The campaign has more actionable messages for policy makers and national leaders, though, and they involve establishing public health care for anyone with viral hepatitis, making funding and treatment available on a grander scale, focusing on the prevention of transmission from mother to child, and raising public awareness.
Is a world free of viral hepatitis possible by 2030? Maybe not quite — but the more precise targets of "reducing new viral hepatitis infections by 90% and reducing deaths due to viral hepatitis by 65%" by that time are indeed attainable with the right action. As we've seen in recent times, amazing things can be achieved when we all work together.