title: Reducing the neglected burden of viral hepatitis in Africa: strategies for a global approach.
abstract: The burden of liver disease may dramatically increase in the near future in Africa, where screening and access to care and treatment are hampered by inadequate disease surveillance, lack of high-quality tools to assess chronic liver disease, and underestimated needs for human and financial resources. Chronic hepatitis may be considered as silent and neglected killer, fuelled by many years of global inertia from stakeholders and policy makers alike. However, the global battle against viral hepatitis is facing a new era owing to the advent of highly effective drugs, innovative tools for screening and clinical follow-up, and recent signs that governments, advocacy groups and global health organizations are mobilizing to advocate universal access-to-treatment. This review details the barriers to prevention, screening and treatment of viral hepatitis on the African continent, focuses on the urgent need for operational and research programmes, and suggests integrated ways to tackle the global epidemic.
authors.affiliation: Imperial College London, St Mary's Hospital, Department of Hepatology, London, UK. Electronic address: m.lemoine@imperial.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Maud
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lemoine
authors.affiliation: Infectious Diseases and Tropical Medicine Unit, Treichville University Hospital, Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire; Department of Dermatology and Infectiology, Medical School, Université Félix Houphouet-Boigny, Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire.
authors.forename: Serge
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Eholié
authors.affiliation: Department of Infectious Diseases and Tropical Medicine, Saint-Antoine Hospital, AP-HP, Paris, France; Sorbonne Universités, UPMC Univ Paris 06, UMR_S 1136, Institut Pierre Louis d'Epidémiologie et de Santé Publique, Paris, France. Electronic address: karine.lacombe@sat.aphp.fr.
authors.forename: Karine
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Lacombe
mesh_terms: D000349:Africa / Q000453:epidemiology; D017281:Cost of Illness; D006525:Hepatitis, Viral, Human / Q000191:economics* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006801:Humans; D009017:Morbidity / Q000639:trends; D058069:Neglected Diseases; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic
keywords: Africa; Hepatitis B; Hepatitis C; Screening; Treatment