Lead image for How undiagnosed Hepatitis B is driving liver cancer rates in Africa.
You may feel perfectly healthy and still be living with hepatitis B without knowing it. The virus can quietly damage your liver for years, with symptoms sometimes appearing only after serious complications have developed. Although hepatitis B is preventable, it remains a leading cause of liver cancer and premature death worldwide. Much of this suffering can be avoided through vaccination, a simple blood test, and effective treatment.
Hepatitis B is caused by the hepatitis B virus (HBV), one of five main viruses that cause hepatitis: A, B, C, D, and E. While some types cause only short-term illness, HBV can persist in the body for life. Over time, the chronic inflammation it triggers can scar the liver, potentially leading to cirrhosis, liver failure, and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), the most common type of primary liver cancer.
Also read: I wasn't feeling sick, but I had Hepatitis B: The fight against a hiding virus
The impact of hepatitis B is severe in Africa. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), around 240 million people globally were living with chronic hepatitis B in 2024, with roughly 64 million of them in Africa. That year, Africa accounted for nearly 68 percent of the estimated 900,000 new infections worldwide. Hepatitis B also caused about 1.1 million deaths, mostly from cirrhosis and liver cancer.
Not everyone with chronic hepatitis B will develop cancer, but the link between HBV and liver cancer is among the strongest infection-cancer connections. The International Agency for Research on Cancer reported that hepatitis B caused about 380,000 cancer cases globally in 2020.
In sub-Saharan Africa, hepatitis B remains the leading cause of hepatocellular carcinoma. Exact figures vary by country, but studies indicate that HBV is responsible for about half of liver cancer cases in the region. In high-prevalence areas, particularly in West Africa, it is linked to 70 to 80 percent of liver cancers in younger adults.
This is why liver cancer in Africa often strikes at a younger age than in other parts of the world.
The virus spreads through infected blood and certain body fluids. In regions where it is common, transmission most often occurs from an infected mother to her baby during birth or through close contact in early childhood. It can also spread via unprotected sex, needle or syringe sharing, unsafe medical injections, contaminated tattoo or piercing equipment, occupational exposure to infected blood, or sharing sharp personal items like razors.