1. European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control
Assessing the public health challenge posed by Hepatitis B and C in the EU
Information for members of the ENVI Committee
24 May 2011

2. Epidemiology of hepatitis B
Decreasing trend of hepatitis B in EU/EEA countries
Interpretation is hampered:
Incomplete reporting
Large heterogeneity in reporting systems
geographical coverage
mix of acute and chronic cases
use of different case definitions
Source: Annual Epidemiological Reports , ECDC, Stockholm

3. Hepatitis B prevalence in the general population

4. Epidemiology of hepatitis C
Increasing trend of hepatitis C in EU/EEA countries
Interpretation is hampered:
Reflects testing and screening practices
Large heterogeneity in reporting systems
geographical coverage
mix of acute and chronic cases
use of different case definitions
So when we look at this graph of the number of new cases of Hepatitis C being reported per 100,000 populations, please bear in mind these limitations on the data.
At least some of the increase could be due to more active testing and screening policies in some Member States.
Source: Annual Epidemiological Reports , ECDC, Stockholm

5. Hepatitis C prevalence in the general population

6. Mortality related to HBV and HCV
Hepatocellular mortality ranges from; 0.68 per 100, men in Sweden and 8.03 in Bulgaria
Note: Data for Belgium, Bulgaria, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Poland and Switzerland did not distinguish between HCC and other liver cancers
Source: Boseti, 2008; La Vecchia, 2000

7. Acute hepatitis B notification rates per 100 000 population, 1995–2004 in selected EU countries
Source: Annual Epidemiological Report on Communicable Diseases in Europe, ECDC, Stockholm 2009

8. Thank you! www.ecdc.europa.eu