World: From Prevention to Sovereignty: Accelerating Viral Hepatitis Elimination in Africa

Country: World Source: Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention By Dr Jean Kaseya, Director General, Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) Each year, World Hepatitis Day is more than a call for awareness; it is a call for action. As Africa advances its Health Security and Sovereignty agenda, viral hepatitis presents a critical opportunity to translate commitment into impact through stronger, self-reliant health systems. In line with the Cairo Declaration, African Union Member States are accelerating efforts to expand hepatitis prevention, testing, and treatment services across the continent. Despite being preventable and treatable, hepatitis B and C remain major causes of death, with Africa carrying one of the highest burdens globally. An estimated 64 million Africans live with chronic hepatitis B, yet only 6% know their status and fewer than 2% receive treatment. The challenge is no longer a lack of scientific solutions but a gap in implementation. Integrating hepatitis services into broader health systems and universal health coverage efforts is essential to closing this gap and achieving elimination targets. Science is already on our side. Effective tools exist to prevent, diagnose, and treat viral hepatitis. Timely hepatitis B birth-dose vaccination, safe blood supplies, infection prevention measures, expanded testing, and affordable antiviral treatment can dramatically reduce transmission, illness, and deaths. The priority now is to ensure these proven interventions reach every mother, every newborn, and every community through strong, integrated primary health care systems. Encouragingly, Africa’s hepatitis response is gaining momentum. Growing political commitment, scientific innovation, and regional collaboration are demonstrating that elimination is both achievable and affordable. When embedded within national health and development priorities rather than approached as a stand-alone disease programme, hepatitis elimination can become a powerful example of how Africa’s Health Security and Sovereignty agenda delivers measurable health gains for its people. Africa no longer needs to look beyond the continent for proof that hepatitis elimination is achievable. Egypt’s landmark 100 Million Healthier Lives campaign, which screened over 50 million people and placed the country on the path to hepatitis C elimination, has become a global model. Rwanda has screened more than seven million people and expanded free hepatitis C treatment nationwide, while Uganda’s sustained domestic investment has enabled free hepatitis B testing, treatment, and viral load monitoring. Similar progress in Nigeria, Senegal, Ghana, and Cameroon underscores a common lesson: when political commitment is matched by domestic financing, innovation, and partnership, hepatitis elimination becomes a realistic and affordable goal. This momentum is increasingly being driven at the continental level. Nearly all Member States have integrated hepatitis B vaccination into routine childhood immunization programmes, and the African Union’s Plan Towards the Elimination of Vertical Transmission of HIV, Syphilis, and Hepatitis B by 2030 reflects a strong commitment to integrated maternal, newborn, and child health services. Complementing these efforts, Africa CDC’s Continental Viral Hepatitis Prevention and Control Programme has strengthened regional coordination, supported Member States in developing and improving national hepatitis programmes, and fostered collaboration among governments, scientific institutions, and civil society. Moreover, today, Africa CDC is launching a practical operational toolkit and digital decision-support platform that translates WHO hepatitis B guidelines into frontline action, helping bridge the gap between policy and implementation across all levels of healthcare delivery. Together, these achievements demonstrate that Africa is not only committed to hepatitis elimination; it is already building the systems, partnerships, and leadership needed to achieve it. Despite the progress, significant challenges remain. Across Africa, only 17% of newborns receive the life-saving hepatitis B birth-dose vaccine within 24 hours of birth, while many pregnant women are still not screened for hepatitis B during antenatal care. As a result, millions of people remain undiagnosed until they present with advanced liver disease or liver cancer. These gaps reflect not only missed opportunities for prevention and early treatment but also broader health system weaknesses in service delivery, diagnostics, financing, and continuity of care. Addressing them requires positioning viral hepatitis as a strategic priority within Africa’s Health Security and Sovereignty agenda, leveraging hepatitis elimination as a catalyst for stronger, more resilient, and more equitable health systems. Call to Action Investing in viral hepatitis elimination therefore strengthens far more than health outcomes. It protects workforce productivity, reduces long-term health expenditure, strengthens economic resilience and advances sustainable development. Accelerating elimination requires the very capabilities that define AHSS: resilient primary health care, integrated surveillance and laboratory networks, predictable domestic financing, digital transformation, stronger regional cooperation, local manufacturing and pooled procurement mechanisms. Therefore, as we observe World Hepatitis Day, we urge our Member States and partners to enhance our response efforts in these five critical areas: Increase domestic financing and innovative funding mechanisms to expand hepatitis prevention, testing, and treatment while reducing reliance on external aid. African governments should explore new sources of domestic and blended financing, including solidarity levies, health security bonds, diaspora bonds, sin taxes, and catalytic private-sector investment, to complement public financing. Strengthen local manufacturing and pooled procurement of vaccines, diagnostics, and antiviral medicines to improve access, affordability, and supply security. Integrate hepatitis services into primary health care and digital health systems, ensuring that every newborn receives timely hepatitis B vaccination and every diagnosed person is linked to care and treatment. Deepen regional cooperation and partnerships to share expertise, scale proven interventions, and sustain momentum toward the 2030 elimination targets. Promote public awareness and community engagement to reduce stigma, increase demand for testing, and improve vaccine uptake. Civil society and community organizations should be engaged as key partners in elimination efforts.

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