World Hepatitis Day: Advancing Diagnosis, Treatment, and Elimination Strategies for Viral Hepatitis

Viral hepatitis remains a leading cause of liver-related morbidity and mortality worldwide, accounting for over a million deaths annually from cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. Despite the existence of effective vaccines for hepatitis A and B, and curative antiviral therapies for hepatitis C, the global elimination of viral hepatitis continues to face major challenges. Persistent gaps in diagnosis—especially the large proportion of undiagnosed chronic hepatitis B and C infections—impede timely treatment initiation. Moreover, limited access to direct-acting antivirals, coupled with the rising burden of metabolic dysfunction–associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD/MASH), compounds the complexity of patient care. Recent studies underscore a pressing need to integrate innovative diagnostic tools, point-of-care technologies, and population-level interventions to achieve the World Health Organization’s 2030 elimination targets. However, uneven resource distribution, the stigma surrounding infection, and emerging viral resistance patterns highlight the need for a coordinated research and policy response.

This Research Topic aims to advance the scientific and clinical understanding of viral hepatitis by bridging the gap between basic research, clinical application, and public health policy, organizing these contributions around a single unifying framework: the WHO elimination cascade of prevention, diagnosis, linkage to care, treatment, and post-cure surveillance. Researchers are encouraged to explore novel biomarkers and non-invasive diagnostics that can enhance early detection across diverse populations. The collection also seeks to synthesize evidence on real-world antiviral outcomes, resistance patterns, and long-term surveillance strategies for cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma after cure. Further goals include investigating functional cure strategies for hepatitis B, optimizing therapeutic approaches for hepatitis D, and analyzing the intersections of viral hepatitis with MASLD/MASH and alcohol-associated liver disease. Importantly, the Topic will highlight interventions that improve access to screening and treatment in low-resource and marginalized settings. Alongside these established priorities, we place particular emphasis on emerging areas that determine whether existing tools actually reach patients: implementation science, simplified and decentralized care pathways, and micro-elimination programs that achieve measurable elimination within a defined population or setting — such as prisons, dialysis units, opioid substitution clinics, birth cohorts, or single city districts.

To gather further insights into global strategies for viral hepatitis elimination, we welcome articles addressing, but not limited to, the following themes:
o Novel diagnostic and non-invasive screening tools for HBV, HCV, and HDV, including point-of-care and decentralized testing that closes the diagnostic gap in routine service conditions
o Real-world outcomes and resistance patterns with direct-acting antivirals
o HBV functional cure research and HDV treatment advances
o Co-infection and disease overlap with MASLD/MASH and alcohol-associated liver disease
o Health disparities, access barriers, and elimination strategies in low-resource settings
o Micro-elimination programs in defined populations or settings: design, evaluation, cost-effectiveness, scale-up, and lessons from programs that did not succeed
o Implementation science and simplified care pathways, including task-shifting, same-day test-and-treat, and strategies that reduce loss to follow-up between diagnosis, treatment initiation, and cure confirmation
o Long-term surveillance and hepatocellular carcinoma risk post-treatment
o Vaccination coverage, prevention policies, and maternal–child transmission prevention
o Pediatric hepatitis control and immunization implementation strategies

Article types and fees

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Case Report
• Classification
• Clinical Trial
• Community Case Study
• Curriculum, Instruction, and Pedagogy
• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• ... View all formats

Articles that are accepted for publication by our external editors following rigorous peer review incur a publishing fee charged to Authors, institutions, or funders.

Article types

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Case Report
• Classification
• Clinical Trial
• Community Case Study
• Curriculum, Instruction, and Pedagogy
• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• Opinion
• Original Research
• Perspective
• Policy and Practice Reviews
• Policy Brief
• Review
• Study Protocol
• Systematic Review
• Technology and Code

Keywords: Viral hepatitis elimination, HBV/HCV/HDV diagnosis and treatment, Direct-acting antivirals, MASLD/MASH co-infection, Hepatocellular carcinoma surveillance

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.