Hepatitis in the South-East Asia Region

Viral hepatitis is the seventh leading cause of mortality worldwide and is the only communicable disease where mortality is increasing. Viral hepatitis cause at least as many, if not more, deaths annually than TB, AIDS or malaria combined.
The word Hepatitis means inflammation (swelling) of the liver. The inflammation can be self-limiting or can progress to fibrosis (scarring), cirrhosis or liver cancer over a period of time . Hepatitis viruses are the most common cause of hepatitis but some other infections, toxic substances (e.g. alcohol, certain drugs), and autoimmune diseases can also cause hepatitis. 

There are five main hepatitis viruses, types A, B, C, D and E. These 5 viruses cause significant burden of illness and death. While hepatitis A and B usually cause outbreaks, B and C infections lead to chronic liver disease and its complications like cirrhosis and liver cancer. WHO estimates that globally there are an estimated 257 million persons with hepatitis B and every year 900 000 people succumb to hepatitis B-related deaths. An estimated 71 million people are infected with hepatitis C globally, an infection that kills over 400 000 people each year.