Dunn R, Wetten A, McPherson S, Donnelly MC. Viral hepatitis in 2021: The challenges remaining and how we should tackle them. World J Gastroenterol 2022; 28(1): 76-95 [PMID: 35125820 DOI: 10.3748/wjg.v28.i1.76]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Mhairi C Donnelly, MBChB, Doctor, Liver Unit, Freeman Hospital, Freeman Road High Heaton, Newcastle NE77DN, United Kingdom. mhairi.donnelly@nhs.net
Research Domain of This Article
Gastroenterology & Hepatology
Article-Type of This Article
Review
Open-Access Policy of This Article
This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
World J Gastroenterol. Jan 7, 2022; 28(1): 76-95 Published online Jan 7, 2022. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v28.i1.76
Viral hepatitis in 2021: The challenges remaining and how we should tackle them
Rebecca Dunn, Aaron Wetten, Stuart McPherson, Mhairi C Donnelly
Rebecca Dunn, Gastroenterology, University Hospital of North Tees, Stockton on Tees TS198PE, United Kingdom
Aaron Wetten, Stuart McPherson, Mhairi C Donnelly, Liver Unit, Freeman Hospital, Newcastle NE77DN, United Kingdom
Aaron Wetten, Stuart McPherson, Translational and Clinical Research Institute, Newcastle University, Newcastle NE17RU, United Kingdom
Author contributions: Dunn R and Wetten A performed the literature review and wrote the manuscript; McPherson S contributed to writing the manuscript and performed a critical review of the manuscript; Donnelly MC designed the review, contributed to writing the manuscript and performed a critical review of the manuscript; and all authors have read and approve the final manuscript.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All authors have no conflict of interest to declare.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Mhairi C Donnelly, MBChB, Doctor, Liver Unit, Freeman Hospital, Freeman Road High Heaton, Newcastle NE77DN, United Kingdom. mhairi.donnelly@nhs.net
Received: May 30, 2021 Peer-review started: May 30, 2021 First decision: June 11, 2021 Revised: June 26, 2021 Accepted: December 22, 2021 Article in press: December 22, 2021 Published online: January 7, 2022 Processing time: 214 Days and 18.6 Hours
Abstract
Viral hepatitis results in 1.4 million deaths annually. The World Health Organization (WHO) set an ambitious target to eliminate viral hepatitis by 2030, but significant challenges remain. These include inequalities in access to healthcare, reaching at risk populations and providing access to screening and effective treatment. Stigma around viral hepatitis persists and must be addressed. The WHO goal of global elimination by 2030 is a worthy aim, but remains ambitious and the coronavirus 2019 pandemic undoubtedly has set back progress. This review article will focus on hepatitis A to E, highlighting problems that have been resolved in the field over the past decade, those that remain to be resolved and suggest directions for future problem solving and research.
Core Tip: Viral hepatitis results in 1.4 million deaths annually. The World Health Organization set an ambitious target to eliminate viral hepatitis by 2030, but significant challenges remain. These include inequalities in access to healthcare, reaching at risk populations and providing access to screening and effective treatment. In this review article, we discuss the advances in the field of viral hepatitis over the past decade. We also discuss the remaining challenges relating to viral hepatitis A to E, and suggest strategies and pathways for their resolution.
