The World Health Organization (WHO) has reported significant progress in reducing infections and deaths globally, but the disease remains a major global health challenge. The 2026 Global Hepatitis Report revealed that new hepatitis B infections have dropped by 32% and hepatitis C-related deaths have fallen by 12% globally. However, transmission continues with over 4900 new infections every day, or 1.8 million each year. The report warns that current rates of progress are insufficient to meet all 2030 elimination targets. It also highlights the need for urgent scale-up of prevention, diagnosis and treatment efforts worldwide. The WHO African Region accounted for 68% of new hepatitis infections, yet only 17% of newborns in the region received the hepatitis B birth-dose vaccination. An estimated 1.1 million people died from hepatitis B and 240 000 from hepatitis C in 2024, with a large share of hepatitis related deaths occurring in the African and Western Pacific Regions.