Key points are not available for this paper at this time.
Hepatitis B and hepatitis C are leading causes of cirrhosis and liver cancer and caused 1.3 million deaths worldwide in 2022.Hepatitis B is preventable with vaccination, and hepatitis C is curable with direct-acting antivirals.In 2015, in collaboration with CDC and other partners, Georgia, a country at the intersection of Europe and Asia, launched a hepatitis C elimination program to reduce the prevalence of chronic hepatitis C; at that time, the prevalence was 5.4%, more than five times the global average of 1.0%.In 2016, the World Health Assembly endorsed a goal for the elimination of viral hepatitis as a public health problem by 2030.In 2024, 89% of the Georgian adult population have received screening for hepatitis C, 83% of persons with current chronic HCV infection have received a diagnosis, and 86% of those with diagnosed hepatitis C have started treatment.During 2015-2023, vaccination coverage with the hepatitis B birth dose and with 3 doses of hepatitis B vaccine among infants exceeded 90% for most years.In 2021, the prevalence of hepatitis B surface antigen was 0.03% among children and adolescents aged 5-17 years and 2.7% among adults.Georgia has demonstrated substantial progress toward hepatitis B and hepatitis C elimination.Using lessons from the hepatitis C elimination program, scale-up of screening and treatment for hepatitis B among adults would prevent further viral hepatitis-associated morbidity and mortality in Georgia and would accelerate progress toward hepatitis B and hepatitis C elimination by 2030.
Tohme et al. (Thu,) studied this question.