Guidelines on Hepatitis B and C Testing

Despite the high global burden of disease due to chronic Hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection, and the advances and opportunities for treatment, most people infected with HBV and/or HCV remain unaware of their infection and therefore frequently present with advanced disease and may transmit infection to others. There are several key reasons for this low rate of hepatitis testing. These include the limited facilities or services for hepatitis testing, lack of effective testing policies or national guidelines, complex diagnostic algorithms, and poor laboratory capacity and quality assurance systems.

These are the first WHO guidelines on testing for chronic HBV and HCV infection and complement published guidance by WHO on the prevention, care and treatment of chronic HCV and HBV infection. These guidelines outline the public health approach to strengthening and expanding current testing practices for HBV and HCV infection, and are intended for use across age groups and populations. The primary audience for these guidelines are national programme managers in ministries of health and health-care providers in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) responsible for planning and implementing hepatitis testing, prevention, care and treatment services.