Ending hepatitis in Latin America

SAMAMISH, Wash. — There are two common ways to destroy your liver: hepatitis and alcohol. While alcohol is easy to avoid, hepatitis is a looming threat to 20 countries and 660 million people in Latin America. More than 10 million people in the Americas have hepatitis. However, many people are unaware that they are carriers. Only about one in five people with hepatitis B know they are positive, and even worse, only 3% have access to treatment. The hepatitis situation in Latin America is severe, killing 100,000 people every year.

In response, the World Health Organization committed to eliminating hepatitis globally by 2030. Unfortunately, there are many barriers to eliminating hepatitis in Latin America, from diagnosis to treatment to cost. Latin America’s extreme poverty rate of 13% further challenges the goal of eradicating poverty.

cost breakthrough

The most effective way to reduce hepatitis in Latin America is to increase testing and treatment, but cost is a significant barrier to achieving this goal. In May 2023, the Clinton Health Initiative (CHAI) and the Hepatitis Foundation reached an agreement to significantly reduce the cost of hepatitis treatment. Hepatitis C medication costs $60 for 12 weeks, and one month of hepatitis B treatment costs an astonishingly low $2.40. Costs have dropped significantly (90% below 2016 prices), greatly improving access to treatment. As CHAI executive officer David Ripin said, “This announcement is a catalyst for countries already working to eliminate the virus and will allow more patients to receive treatment.”

Mexican and Brazilian efforts

In addition to global support for Latin America’s fight against hepatitis, individual countries have made strides in identifying and eliminating the disease. For example, Mexico developed a national hepatitis C elimination plan in primary health care to improve health care quality and access. Within a year, the program had quintupled the number of specialist hepatitis centers and educated 100,000 clinical practitioners on hepatitis management and treatment options. The organization continues to fight hepatitis and works to improve testing.

Brazil’s national viral hepatitis program has seen similar successes, such as the implementation of a new oral test for hepatitis. The program treated approximately 150,000 patients from 2010 to 2021 and has no plans to slow down, with the lofty goal of screening 15 million people by 2024. The program continues to thrive and hopes to begin teaching screening, prevention, diagnosis and testing classes to non-populations. – professional. Other countries continue to make progress in mitigating the impact of hepatitis, with similar national programs focusing on screening, treatment and education.

Looking to the future

Latin America has made clear and sustained efforts to end hepatitis by 2030. The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) recently partnered with the AIDS Healthcare Foundation to reduce hepatitis, tuberculosis and AIDS. The 2030 timeline may seem like a far-fetched goal, but the work of global organizations and countries such as Mexico and Brazil is providing a glimmer of hope in achieving it. This light could stop not just hepatitis, but other diseases and global poverty.

——Aditya Arora
Photo: Flickr