Viral hepatitis infections kill nearly 1 million people a year. The majority of cases are in Asia and in African countries south of the Sahara.
A vaccine and treatment for some forms of hepatitis are now available. But whether patients have enough money to pay for treatments is a different story.
The World Health Organization says high cost of drugs is one big problem in fighting hepatitis. Another problem is the fact that most people living with hepatitis do not know they are infected.
There are five different hepatitis viruses: A, B, C, D and E. All five cause inflammation of the liver. The organ can become enlarged and painful.
Hepatitis A and E are spread through infectious waste in food or water. These forms of the disease cause acute infection. However, most people recover. The best way to prevent Hepatitis A is by getting a vaccination. But the U.S. Federal Drug Agency has yet to approve a vaccine for Hepatitis E.
Hepatitis E is usually found in countries with polluted water supplies and poor waste treatment systems. Hepatitis D only infects people already infected with the B virus. Hepatitis B and C can be the most serious. Those two types are responsible for 80 percent of all liver cancer deaths.
