The decline in the reported number of new transmissions of hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) infections across European Union (EU) and European Economic Area (EEA) countries has continued.
In this report, we provide an overview of the data reported by countries in the EU and EEA in 2023 to describe progress towards the 2025 interim targets for hepatitis elimination as outlined in the WHO European Region Action Plan 2022–2030.
In 2022, 23 273 cases of hepatitis C were reported in 29 EU/EEA countries. Excluding countries that only reported acute cases, 23 249 cases were notified, corresponding to a crude rate of 6.2 cases per 100 000 population.
Recent ECDC data show that despite progress in prevention and control efforts, the hepatitis B and hepatitis C viruses (HBV and HCV) continue to pose significant public health challenges in the European Union and European Economic Area (EU/EEA).
This joint guidance by the ECDC and EMCDDA aims to strengthen the evidence base for developing national strategies for preventing and controlling infections and infectious diseases among people who inject drugs.
This document is an update of the joint guidance that was published in 2011 by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) and the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA).