Chronic hepatitis B: identifying who needs to be treated and improving linkage to care

Hepatitis B is a global health problem. Despite access to hepatitis B vaccines since 1981, and effective affordable antivirals (WHO-prequalified generic tenofovir costs US$32 per annum), 1 Hutin Y Nasrullah M Easterbrook P et al. Access to treatment for hepatitis B virus infection—worldwide, 2016. Morb Mortal Weekly Rep. 2018; 67: 773-777 Crossref PubMed Scopus (47) Google Scholar in 2015, WHO estimated that 257 million people were living with chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection worldwide. 2 WHOWHO global hepatitis report 2017. World Health Organization, Geneva2017https://www.who.int/hepatitis/publications/global-hepatitis-report2017/en/Date accessed: October 6, 2020 Google Scholar Mortality due to complications of cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma is increasing globally, with 900 000 deaths reported annually in 2015. 2 WHOWHO global hepatitis report 2017. World Health Organization, Geneva2017https://www.who.int/hepatitis/publications/global-hepatitis-report2017/en/Date accessed: October 6, 2020 Google Scholar Estimating the proportion of people with chronic hepatitis B virus infection eligible for hepatitis B antiviral treatment worldwide: a systematic review and meta-analysisMany studies described people with HBV infection, but few reported information in a way that allowed assessment of eligibility for treatment. Although about one in ten of the 257 million people with HBV infection (26 million) might be in urgent need of treatment because of cirrhosis, a larger proportion (12–25%) is eligible for treatment in accordance with different guidelines. Future studies describing people with HBV infection should report on treatment eligibility, according to broadly agreed definitions. Full-Text PDF Open Access