World Hepatitis Day 2022: Date, Theme, History and Significance

WORLD HEPATITIS DAY 2022: World Hepatitis Day is annually commemorated on July 28 to create awareness among people about the viral disease. The hepatitis virus has five primary strains, known as types A, B, C, D and E. They all cause liver disease, but there are key differences between them in terms of origin, transmission and severity.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), approximately 354 million people in the world are living with hepatitis B and C. For most people testing as well as treatment is beyond reach.

World Hepatitis Day: History

The World Health Organisation launched this campaign with an aim to make the world free of hepatitis. The World Hepatitis Alliance was founded in the year 2007 and the first community-organised World Hepatitis Day was observed in 2008.

In 1967 American Physician Baruch Samuel Blumberg discovered the Hepatitis B virus. In order to honour the Nobel Prize-winning scientist his birthday, July 28, was chosen as World Hepatitis Day. Samuel Blumberg discovered hepatitis B and invented a test as well as vaccination for the same.

World Hepatitis Day: Significance

The day is observed to spread awareness about the various forms of hepatitis and how they get transmitted. The day also aims to improve the management, detection, and prevention of viral hepatitis as well as related diseases. The day serves as a reminder of the importance of increasing hepatitis B vaccination rates. The day also advocates to build a collective global hepatitis action plan.

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World Hepatitis Day 2022: Theme

This year’s theme for World Hepatitis Day is, ‘Bringing hepatitis care closer to you.’ The idea of this theme is to focus on raising awareness of the need to make hepatitis care more accessible.