Worldwide, 500 million people are living with chronic viral hepatitis, which is inflammation of the liver.
The disease each year kills 1.5 million people. That’s as many people as HIV/AIDS.
As the world’s 8th largest killer, viral hepatitis is surprisingly largely ignored. To help draw attention to the disease, the World Health Organization in 2010 declared July 28 World Hepatitis Day. It is one of only four disease-specific days to be celebrated each year.
World Hepatitis Day is designed to call attention to the disease and request access to treatment, government’s involvement and better prevention programs.
Vaccines are currently available for Hepatitis A and Hepatitis B, but not Hepatitis C. Hepatitis D is only seen in people with Hepatitis B. There is a vaccine for Hepatitis E, but it is not widely available.
For more information, visit the World Hepatitis Alliance. For vaccine info, visit the Mesa County Health Department’s main website.