Today is World Hepatitis Day, marked every year on 28 July with a range of programmes. Its central purpose is to raise awareness of viral hepatitis, to ensure timely detection and treatment, and to strengthen preventive measures.
Siddique Hossain, 42, a resident of Savar, was living contentedly with his wife and two children, running the household on a job at a private firm. Then he suddenly developed physical complications and went to a doctor. After a series of tests, doctors told him he had the hepatitis B virus. Although he took treatment at Dhaka Medical College Hospital, his condition worsened by the day.
He said: “Even a year ago I did not know I had this terrible disease. There were no symptoms of any kind in my body. I only had occasional pain in the stomach and a feeling of nausea. But my body felt very weak and tired. In the meantime, complications including liver cirrhosis have developed. I have been taking treatment for the past six months. All the money I had saved has gone on treatment; I have borrowed from relatives and sold land at the village home as well. Now I cannot even afford to buy medicine regularly.”
It is not only Siddique. Like him, most people in the country do not know what hepatitis is, how the virus is contracted or what the treatment is. Because the disease has very few symptoms, it is not easily detected even in those infected. It therefore remains silently inside the body for a long time. In rural areas in particular, a lack of awareness and the failure to test in time mean many reach a critical stage before the disease is identified. Specialist doctors have expressed concern that hepatitis B and C are becoming silent killers in the country as a result.
Doctors say most people in the country know hepatitis simply as “jaundice.” In medical terms, however, hepatitis is viral inflammation of the liver. There are five types — A, B, C, D and E. Of these, hepatitis A and E are food- and water-borne and cause mild jaundice, which usually clears within four to eight weeks through the body’s immune system, although in some cases it can cause sudden liver failure. Hepatitis B and C, by contrast, cause severe long-term damage to the liver and are considered the leading causes of liver cirrhosis and liver cancer.
According to the National Liver Foundation of Bangladesh, 5.7 percent of the country’s adult population — more than a crore people — currently live with long-term hepatitis B and C infection. About 23,000 people die every year from complications caused by the hepatitis B and C viruses. The infection rate among children under five is about one percent, a figure of around 16 lakh 60 thousand. About 18 lakh women of childbearing age in the country have hepatitis B. Nine out of every 10 people in the country do not know they have the disease, so they remain outside treatment and face serious health risks unawares.
According to the World Health Organization’s “Global Hepatitis Report 2026,” about 28 crore 70 lakh people worldwide were living with long-term hepatitis B or C infection in 2024. Of them, 13 lakh 40 thousand died. More than 10 lakh people die on average every year, and fewer than five percent have received treatment. The B and C viruses are responsible in 80 percent of liver cancer cases. Bangladesh ranks seventh among the 10 countries at highest risk. The top 10 countries for deaths from hepatitis B and C are led by China, with India second. Under the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the world is committed to preventing hepatitis B and C and eliminating liver cancer by 2030.
Noting that Bangladesh is at high risk in terms of hepatitis infection, Dr Mohammad Saidul Haque, a physician in the liver department of Dhaka Medical College Hospital, said hepatitis is not a contagious disease, but the number of those infected is rising because of a lack of awareness. Many do not realise for a long time that they have hepatitis B or C, because the disease is usually without symptoms in its early stages. Most patients learn of the infection during tests for another illness, a pregnancy health check or a medical examination for a job. Many other patients come to hospital only after the liver has reached a critical state, with symptoms such as fluid in the abdomen, vomiting blood or black stools.
He said hepatitis can be prevented through safe blood transfusion, vaccination and greater awareness. Hepatitis C can now be cured completely and hepatitis B can be kept under long-term control. He expressed some doubt, however, about eliminating hepatitis by 2030.
Professor Dr Shahinul Alam, chairman of the hepatology department at Bangladesh Medical University, said hepatitis B and C are essentially blood-borne viruses. The infection spreads through unsafe blood transfusion, used needles and syringes, contaminated blades or medical instruments that have not been sterilised. Because of a lack of awareness and superstition, he said, many do not seek treatment in time, so complications increase. Initial hepatitis testing can be done at district and upazila hospitals, while advanced testing and treatment are readily available at specialised or city hospitals. Compared with many other countries, the cost of testing and the price of medicines in Bangladesh are also relatively low. He therefore stressed the importance of raising awareness.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report