World Hepatitis Day 2025: Time to Break the Silence on Hepatitis in Ghana

Observed globally on July 28, World Hepatitis Day serves as an important reminder of the devastating impact of viral hepatitis. This largely silent epidemic continues to claim lives despite the availability of prevention and treatment options. In 2022 alone, chronic hepatitis B and C were responsible for 1.3 million deaths, while over 300 million people were living with these conditions. Ghana remains deeply affected, with hepatitis B posing a major public health challenge. Current estimates suggest that 12 to 15 percent of the Ghanaian population is living with hepatitis B, yet public awareness, early detection, and access to care and treatment remain far too limited to address the scale of the problem effectively.

The theme for this year’s commemoration, “Hepatitis: Let’s Break It Down,” underscores the urgent need to dismantle the structural, social, and financial barriers that hinder progress towards eliminating hepatitis and preventing liver cancer. In the Ghanaian context, this call to action means removing the economic and logistical obstacles that prevent many individuals, particularly those in rural and low-income communities, from receiving timely testing, vaccination, and treatment. One of the clearest indicators of this gap is the low rate of hepatitis B birth dose administration in Ghana, with fewer than half of newborns receiving the vaccine within the recommended 24-hour window after birth. This lapse significantly increases the lifelong risk of infection and liver-related complications.

Ghana already possesses many of the necessary tools to combat hepatitis, including effective vaccines, diagnostic tests, and treatment options. What is urgently required now is a stronger, more coordinated national commitment to make these services widely available and fully integrated into the broader public health system, especially at the primary care level. Testing should be routine and accessible in all regions. Treatment must be affordable and supported through national health financing schemes. At the same time, public education efforts must be scaled up to reduce misinformation and stigma, which continue to discourage many from seeking care.

Ghana cannot afford to treat hepatitis as a low-priority or donor-dependent issue. Chronic hepatitis B and C are progressive diseases that will continue to undermine our health system and economic productivity if left unaddressed. To achieve the global goal of eliminating hepatitis as a public health threat by 2030, Ghana must act decisively by investing in early diagnosis, expanding equitable access to treatment, and making the prevention of hepatitis a clearly defined national health priority.