Every year on 28 July, the world marks World Hepatitis Day, a public health observance established by the World Health Organization (WHO) and global partners to raise awareness of viral hepatitis, its impact, and the urgent need for prevention, testing, and treatment. That date honors the birthday of Dr. Baruch Samuel Blumberg, the Nobel Prize–winning scientist who discovered the hepatitis B virus and developed its vaccine.
The 2025 theme, “Hepatitis: Let’s Break It Down,” emphasizes the urgent need to dismantle financial, social, and systemic barriers—including stigma—that block progress toward eliminating hepatitis and preventing liver cancer. The campaign calls on countries to simplify and scale up essential services—vaccination, safe injection practices, harm reduction, testing, and treatment—and integrate them into national health systems.
Launched following a resolution at the 63rd World Health Assembly in 2010, World Hepatitis Day unified fragmented regional awareness campaigns under a single global observance, currently recognized in over 100 countries annually. Patient groups, advocates, NGOs such as the World Hepatitis Alliance, and international agencies collaborate to organize screenings, vaccination drives, rally events, and policy advocacy efforts.
The Burden of Silence
While global estimates show over 300 million people live with chronic hepatitis B and C and that 1.3 million deaths occurred in 2022 from complications, the WHO Eastern Mediterranean Region, which includes the Middle East, bears one of the highest burdens—an estimated 12 million people infected with hepatitis C alone —even though most cases are preventable and treatable (IARC). According to WHO commentary on progress by 2025, more than 12.7 million people with hepatitis C had received direct‑acting antiviral treatment by 2023, and global hepatitis B vaccine coverage surpassed 90 %. Yet diagnosis rates remain low in many regions, with serious disparities in who gets tested and treated.
Breaking Misinformation
One core obstacle to elimination is misinformation. Common myths persist, such as hepatitis being caused only by alcohol use or contaminated food, or that it’s always a death sentence. In fact, hepatitis A and E are food‑borne, while hepatitis B, C, and D spread through blood or bodily fluids—and B and C are manageable or curable when caught early. The silent nature of chronic hepatitis B and C means many carriers feel fine while still spreading the virus, underscoring the importance of routine screening—especially among high‑risk groups.
Hepatitis in the Middle East: A Regional Portrait
The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region grapples with elevated rates of hepatitis across types A, B, C and E. According to studies, it is the fifth leading cause of death in the region, with nearly two‑thirds of that toll caused by hepatitis C. In particular, Palestine, Yemen, Egypt, Oman, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia are recognized with high endemicity for hepatitis B and C. Hepatitis A and E, often food‑ or water‑borne, remain widespread in refugee camps and underserved communities, including among Syrians and Palestinians, where sanitation and vaccine coverage are inconsistent.
Egypt, once carrying one of the world’s highest hepatitis C burdens (~14 % prevalence in 2011), embarked on a bold elimination drive. A national screening and treatment program named “100 million Healthy Lives” led to dramatic reductions in infection, bringing prevalence below 1 % by 2021. Egypt became the first country validated by WHO in 2023 to be on track for hepatitis C elimination.
Challenges Across Borders
Despite progress in some nations, access to hepatitis B antivirals—such as tenofovir disoproxil fumarate, tenofovir alafenamide and entecavir—remains uneven, with treatment consistently available in wealthier countries but patchy elsewhere. Early childhood vaccination and timely birth-dose coverage are crucial yet uneven across the region.
Stigma and misinformation add layers of challenge: many people remain unaware of silent, chronic infections, delaying screening until advanced liver disease emerges. Testing remains under‑prioritized among refugees and marginalized groups, especially where essential healthcare resources are scarce.
World Hepatitis Day 2025: A Regional Call‑to‑Action
On 28 July, countries across the Middle East are joining the global push under the banner “Let’s Break It Down”, with local events tailored to dismantle misinformation, scale up primary services, and integrate hepatitis care into national health systems.
Common campaign actions include:
- Mobile screening units targeting refugees, remote communities and high‑risk occupations
- Community education campaigns aimed at healthcare workers, pregnant women, and people who inject drugs
- Vaccination drives, especially birth‑dose immunizations for hepatitis B
- Policy advocacy urging governments across the region to adopt streamlined viral hepatitis strategies
The 2030 hepatitis elimination strategy in the MENA region is a significant undertaking, requiring sustained commitment and coordinated efforts from all stakeholders to achieve its ambitious goals.
The UAE has been recognized for its proactive approach to hepatitis elimination, including incorporating hepatitis B vaccination into the national immunization program since 1991 and providing vaccination to travelers.
The Emirates Gastroenterology and Hepatology Society and the Ministry of Health and Prevention in the UAE have launched awareness campaigns to educate the public about hepatitis and encourage testing.
Other countries in the MENA region are also implementing various strategies, such as national hepatitis control programs, to address the burden of hepatitis.
Why This Matters
The theme reflects hard data: in 2022, only 45% of newborns worldwide received the hepatitis B dose within 24 hours of birth, a key measure to prevent mother‑to‑child transmission. Meanwhile, the MENA region shoulders a disproportionately heavy disease and mortality burden. Unless barriers—financial, structural, and social—are broken down, elimination by 2030 remains out of reach.
Looking Ahead
World Hepatitis Day 2025 in the Middle East presents a pivotal moment. If countries can replicate Egypt’s model of universal access, local generic supply, mass screening and strong public investment—combined with cross‑border cooperation—they can reposition the region on track for hepatitis elimination by 2030. The call is clear: test early, treat equitably, vaccinate widely—and dismantle stigma wherever it lives.
By uniting around concrete action, the Middle East can turn World Hepatitis Day from awareness into transformation—ensuring that hepatitis becomes a story of defeat, not death.
World Hepatitis Day 2025 reinforces a powerful message: hepatitis is preventable, treatable, and often curable—but only if we break down barriers. To achieve the global elimination target by 2030, we need universal access to testing and treatment, stronger health systems, widespread vaccination, and communities freed from stigma. Education, compassion, and political will remain the cornerstones of progress. As WHO encourages, “let’s break it down”—because dismantling these barriers could save millions of lives.
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