Hepatitis B
Facts and figures
WHO hepatitis B fact sheet
Hepatitis B is one of the major diseases of mankind and is a serious global public health problem. It is preventable with safe and effective vaccines that have been available sine 1982. Of the 2 billion people who have been infected with the hepatitis B virus (HBV), more than 350 million have chronic (lifelong) infection.
GAVI hepatitis B fact sheet
It is estimated that about one-third of the global population – around 2 billion people – have been infected with the hepatitis B virus at some stage in their lifetime. Of these, about 360 million people remain chronically infected carriers of the disease – most of them unaware they are infected but capable of spreading the disease to others.