ECDC report on the prevention of hepatitis B and C in the EU/EEA and the UK

01 December 2020

The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (EDCD) has published a report on the prevention of hepatitis B and C in the EU/EEA and the UK.

In key messages from the report:

Hepatitis B

In the EU/EEA and the UK, there are an estimated 4.7 million cases of chronic hepatitis B.
Hepatitis B disproportionately affects migrants, people in prison settings, men who have sex with men (MSM) and people living with HIV. Prevention efforts should focus on these key affected populations as well as pregnant women and healthcare workers.
Monitoring data on hepatitis B prevention show that coverage of vaccination programmes for children and key selected adult populations, antenatal screening and birth dose vaccination to prevent vertical transmission, haemovigilance, and sexual and nosocomial transmission prevention must be improved in many countries to reach the 2020 targets set by the World Health Organization (WHO).

Hepatitis C

In the EU/EEA and the UK, there are an estimated 3.9 million cases of chronic hepatitis C.
Hepatitis C disproportionately affects people who inject drugs (PWID), people in prison settings, MSM and people living with HIV. Prevention efforts are most critically needed for PWID, including in harm reduction settings and prisons.
Data on hepatitis C prevention targets show that significant improvements in implementation of prevention strategies among PWID, including needle and syringe programmes and opioid substitution therapy, will be needed in many countries to reach the WHO targets for 2020.