CDC Collaborates Worldwide to Eliminate Viral Hepatitis

At a glance

CDC works with international partners like the World Health Organization (WHO) and other countries to prevent, control, and eliminate viral hepatitis as a global public health threat.

A group of individuals discuss Georgia's viral hepatitis C elimination program in an office setting

CDC efforts to eliminate viral hepatitis globally

CDC provides external programmatic support, technical assistance, and strategic leadership to countries and organizations working toward global viral hepatitis elimination.

Visualization of CDC strategic directions and vision for elimination of hepatitis.
The figure above illustrates CDC's vision, strategic directions, and guiding principles for global viral hepatitis elimination.

Vision: CDC's overall vision is to eliminate viral hepatitis as a global public health threat.

Strategic directions: CDC has four key strategic directions building toward our vision.

  1. Provide technical assistance and leadership for global viral hepatitis elimination initiatives.
  2. Create sustainable partnerships with collaborative approaches to eliminate viral hepatitis.
  3. Foster and disseminate innovations to achieve viral hepatitis elimination.
  4. Prioritize an equitable approach for populations disproportionately burdened by viral hepatitis.

Guiding principles: CDC is guided by the following principles.

  • Expertise
  • Collaboration
  • Innovation
  • Health equity

CDC's focus areas in global viral hepatitis are both global and country-specific.

Global guidance

As a WHO Collaborating Center for Reference and Research on Viral Hepatitis, CDC is a key partner in the development and review of WHO guidance on viral hepatitis, such as:

  • Guidance for country validation of viral hepatitis elimination and path to elimination.
  • Global guidance on criteria and processes for validation: elimination of parent-to-child transmission of HIV, syphilis, and hepatitis B virus (HBV).
  • Updated recommendations on treatment of adolescents and children with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection, and hepatitis C simplified service delivery and diagnosis.
  • Guidelines on antiviral prophylaxis in pregnancy: prevention of parent-to-child transmission of HBV.
  • Guidelines for the care and treatment of people diagnosed with chronic HCV infection.
  • Guidelines on person-centered viral hepatitis strategic information using data to support country scale-up of hepatitis prevention, diagnosis, and treatment services.

Country-specific guidance

CDC also supports other countries as they:

  • Review and evaluate their existing viral hepatitis activities and programs.
  • Develop their national viral hepatitis strategic plans.

Burden estimates

CDC works with international partners to estimate the burden of viral hepatitis in other countries. This information is critical to inform national policies and to set valid elimination goals.

CDC also supports countries as they work to:

  • Design and implement nationally representative serosurveys to measure progress and identify gaps in progress.
  • Assess viral hepatitis disease burden in key populations to inform prevention, care, and treatment needs.
  • Implement economic assessments to prioritize activities with largest impact.
  • Evaluate the impact of current investments in preventing disease and death.

CDC also participates in global and regional verification commissions to review country reports and track elimination progress.

Prevention, diagnosis, and treatment

CDC supports countries working to scale up prevention, diagnosis, and treatment. Specific goals are to:

  • Implement innovative funding approaches and interventions to increase testing and treatment in low- and middle-income countries.
  • Evaluate hepatitis C self-testing methods to scale up diagnosis and treatment among key and general populations.
  • Assess feasibility of implementation of WHO testing and treatment guidelines for hepatitis B in low-resource settings.
  • Implement interventions to improve hepatitis B vaccination among key populations and persons at risk of infection.
  • Implement interventions to improve hepatitis B and hepatitis C prevention, testing, and treatment among key populations.
  • Strengthen laboratory capacity to improve diagnostic capacity for viral hepatitis in countries CDC supports.
A group of people conduct a site visit in Pakistan.
CDC site visit in Pakistan to support hepatitis C microelimination in slums in Islamabad.

International collaboration is important

In the United States, people not born in the US account for 3 out of 4 HBV infections. 1

Four human figures with three filled in and one empty
In the US, 3 out of 4 people with HBV infections were not born in the US.

These collaborations:

  • Help the host country reduce disease and death.
  • Reduce the likelihood that people coming to the US are infected.
  • Help reduce the risk for disease among US travelers abroad.

Success story

CDC has been providing technical and financial assistance to the country of Georgia to advance viral hepatitis elimination for nearly a decade.

To learn more about how CDC is working in the country of Georgia, see Advancing Viral Hepatitis Elimination in Georgia.

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Content Source:
Division of Viral Hepatitis
  1. Bixler D, Barker L, Lewis K, Peretz L, Teshale E. Prevalence and awareness of Hepatitis B virus infection in the United States: January 2017–March 2020. Hepatol Commun. March 30, 2023;7(4):e0118.