Health experts and policymakers have renewed calls for stronger global action against viral hepatitis, urging governments to remove barriers that prevent millions of people from accessing life-saving prevention, testing, and treatment services as the world marks World Hepatitis Day 2026.
Observed annually on July 28, World Hepatitis Day raises awareness of viral hepatitis—a group of infections that causes inflammation of the liver and can lead to serious complications, including cirrhosis, liver failure, and liver cancer. Despite being largely preventable and, in some cases, curable, viral hepatitis continues to claim hundreds of thousands of lives each year.
This year's campaign is being observed under the theme, "Hepatitis: Let's break it down," a call to dismantle the barriers that continue to limit access to essential healthcare services.
According to global health experts, the medical tools needed to eliminate viral hepatitis are already available. These include effective vaccines, reliable diagnostic tests, curative medicines for hepatitis C, and lifelong antiviral therapies that help people living with hepatitis B manage the disease and prevent severe complications.
However, millions of people around the world remain undiagnosed or untreated because of limited awareness, stigma, inequalities in healthcare access, and weaknesses within health systems.
The 2026 campaign is therefore focused on translating scientific progress into practical action by encouraging stronger political commitment, sustained investment, and equitable access to prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and long-term care.
World Hepatitis Day also serves as a platform to encourage governments, health organizations, communities, and individuals to intensify efforts aimed at meeting the global target of eliminating viral hepatitis as a public health threat by 2030.
The observance falls on July 28 to commemorate the birthday of Nobel Prize-winning scientist Dr. Baruch Blumberg, who discovered the hepatitis B virus (HBV) and developed both the first diagnostic test and vaccine against the disease.
Health authorities continue to identify low testing and treatment coverage as one of the biggest obstacles to achieving global hepatitis elimination goals.
In 2025, the former World Health Organization (WHO) Representative to Iran, Jaffar Hussain, commended Iran's progress in tackling hepatitis B and C, describing the country's commitment to eliminating the diseases as commendable.
He noted that although viral hepatitis remains one of the world's leading causes of preventable deaths, it is also among the diseases that can be effectively controlled through coordinated public health measures.
Highlighting the importance of sustained awareness campaigns and renewed commitment, Hussain stressed that ending hepatitis requires collaboration among governments, healthcare professionals, civil society, and communities.
While acknowledging Iran's significant achievements in controlling hepatitis B through widespread vaccination, he said more attention is still needed to address hepatitis C, particularly among vulnerable populations.
"We need to focus on health quality and programs such as peer support, harm reduction services, and the expansion of tests and treatments," the official said.
Hussain also emphasized the World Health Organization's strategy of integrating HIV, viral hepatitis, and sexually transmitted infection (STI) services into Primary Health Care (PHC), noting that such an approach would improve access to healthcare, strengthen service delivery, encourage greater community participation, produce better health outcomes, and support sustainable healthcare financing.
He further called for healthcare systems that are free from stigma and centered on patients' needs.
"The eradication of hepatitis is not merely a health objective, but a step towards justice, human dignity, and equality."
Meanwhile, Iran's Deputy Health Minister, Alireza Raeisi, said the country's Ministry of Health has set an ambitious target of eliminating hepatitis C between March 2026 and March 2027 through comprehensive planning and collaboration across different sectors.
According to Raeisi, Iran will continue implementing diagnostic, treatment, and prevention strategies with the aim of meeting international milestones and ultimately achieving global recognition for the elimination of hepatitis C.
Health experts maintain that with sustained investment, improved public awareness, expanded vaccination programmes, early diagnosis, and wider access to treatment, viral hepatitis can be significantly reduced, bringing the world closer to achieving the WHO's elimination target by 2030.