Ambitious new world targets are to be set for reducing the spread of viral hepatitis, a summit in Scotland heard yesterday.
Experts gathered in Glasgow for the first global summit of its kind.
World Health Organisation planners revealed their proposals, which would see a 90% reduction in new cases of chronic hepatitis B and C by 2030.
There would also be a 65% cut in deaths from hepatitis B and C together with treatment of 80% of eligible patients.
Experts said this could be achieved through a combination of vaccines and cures.
The summit was backed by WHO, the World Hepatitis Alliance and the Scottish Government.
Dr Gottfried Hirnschall, director of the WHO Global Hepatitis Programme, said: “We know how to prevent viral hepatitis, we have a safe and effective vaccine for hepatitis B, and we now have medicines that can cure people with hepatitis C and control hepatitis B infection.
“Yet access to diagnosis and treatment is still lacking or inaccessible in many parts of the world.
"This summit is a wake-up call to build momentum to prevent, diagnose, treat – and eventually eliminate viral hepatitis as a public health problem.”
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