Africa Knowledge Management Portal
Informing health decisions and actions
Description
Hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection are major causes of acute and chronic liver disease (e.g. cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma) globally, and cause an estimated 1.4 million deaths annually. It is estimated that, at present, 248 million people are living with chronic HBV infection, and that 110 million persons are HCV-antibody positive, of which 80 million have active viraemic infection.