WHO declares Hepatitis D a cancer threat, calls for wider access to treatment

To increase screening and provide access to innovative treatments, the World Health Organisation-International Agency for Research in Cancer (WHO-IARC) has recently classified hepatitis D, a devastating but little-known viral hepatitis, as carcinogenic.

The five known hepatitis viruses—A, B, C, D, and E—can cause viral hepatitis, which is marked by liver inflammation.  The only ones that can cause chronic infections that raise the risk of cirrhosis, liver failure, or liver cancer are hepatitis B, C, and D.

"Every 30 seconds, someone dies from a hepatitis-related severe liver disease or liver cancer. Yet we have the tools to stop hepatitis," said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General.

According to the IARC, hepatitis D or HDV, which only infects people with hepatitis B, is linked to a two- to six-fold increased risk of liver cancer in comparison to hepatitis B alone. 

An estimated 48 million people worldwide are afflicted with HDV, which has the greatest death rate of any hepatitis infection at 20% when combined with the hepatitis B



virus. 

Its prevalence is highest in low- and middle-income regions in Africa and Asia, apart from the Amazon basin and India.  According to scientific research, 8–37% of people with hepatitis B also have HDV, depending on the area.

According to a WHO report from 2024, India accounted for 11.6% of the worldwide disease burden in 2022, with over 3.5 crore cases of viral hepatitis, including 2.98 crore cases of hepatitis B.

"WHO has published guidelines on testing and diagnosis of Hepatitis B and D in 2024 and is actively following the clinical outcomes from innovative treatments for hepatitis D," said Dr Meg Doherty, incoming Director of Science for Health at WHO.

Oral medication efficiently suppresses hepatitis B with lifelong therapy and cures hepatitis C in two to three months. Hepatitis D treatment options are changing. But only by taking immediate steps to expand and incorporate hepatitis services—such as testing, treatment, harm reduction, and vaccination—into national health systems will the full benefits of lowering liver cirrhosis and cancer fatalities be realised.