Experts bat for early detection to prevent hepatitis deaths

Indian Hepatitis Summit 2025 focuses on early detection, treatment, and prevention of viral hepatitis with global experts.

A two-day summit in Chennai on eliminating hepatitis had speakers calling for early detection to prevent deaths due to the viral infection.

At the inauguration of the Indian Hepatitis Summit 2025 in the city on Friday (January 17, 2025), R.P. Shanmugam, founder of Chennai Liver Foundation (CLF), the organiser of the event, said 70% of deaths due to the infection were preventable. Globally, around 1.3 million people died of viral hepatitis infection in 2022, and the number has gone up from 1.1 million in 2019, said Dr. Shanmugam.

Though there are vaccines to prevent the hepatitis B infection, awareness is low, he said.

Rachel Holford, president, World Hepatitis Alliance, said the infection was “a global crisis” and added that India needed to improve treatment to meet the WHO‘s Sustainable Development Goal target, which aimed at eliminating hepatitis by 2030. John Ward, director, Coalition for Global Hepatitis Elimination, said early detection would help eliminate the disease.

R.K. Dhiman, director, Sanjay Gandhi Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences, Lucknow, termed hepatitis a major health burden as nearly 325 million were affected in India.

An app for data collection and follow-up was launched at the summit. Sowmya Swaminathan, chairperson of the M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation, while launching the app, said hepatitis and tuberculosis were taking an equal toll on the population. The app presents an opportunity for public healthcare professionals to deal with not just the disease but also the people affected by it, she opined.

Recalling how research done in South Africa and India helped shape strategies in tackling HIV infections, she said the key was in testing, raising awareness, and strengthening linkages with government agencies. She further urged CLF to invest in research and development and suggested that the conference come up with “a call to action” to determine where to focus in India.