There was a 63% increase in global viral hepatitis deaths in the 23 years to 2013, according to a new study.

In 1990 the number of deaths from hepatitis was 895,000, rising to 1.45 million in 2013, a paper published in The Lancet says.

“Our results show viral hepatitis is one of the leading causes of death and disability worldwide,” it says. “It causes at least as many deaths annually as tuberculosis, AIDS or malaria.

“By contrast with most other communicable diseases, hepatitis has risen in importance since the first study in 1990.”

Hepatitis was ranked 10th among the leading causes of death in 1990 and seventh in 2013. Heart disease was No.1 across the 23 years.

The researchers also examined hepatitis death rates by region, with Asia topping the list in 2013.

In east Asia there were 459,700 deaths from hepatitis that year, while south Asia recorded 289,700.

By comparison, Australia recoded 2700 in the year, while western Europe had 77,200.  

In 2013 the number of hepatitis deaths in low-income and lower-middle-income countries was 610,000, compared with 840,000 in upper-middle-income and high-income nations.

“Hepatitis is unusual among leading communicable diseases because the distribution of morbidity is evenly divided between high-income and low-income settings,” the researchers say.

Advances in vaccines and treatments have not achieved the scale required in some regions to make an impact. There is also little funding for treatments.    

“The small proportion of global health funding targeted at hepatitis is disproportionate to its importance as a major cause of death and disability,” the paper says. “ Our results suggest an evolution in funding structures is required to accommodate the burden of viral hepatitis and allow effective responses in low-income and lower-middle-income countries.”