Interpretation of China's Action Plan for Viral Hepatitis Prevention and Care (2025-2030)

Viral hepatitis is a major public health concern in China. In alignment with the World Health Organization (WHO) 2016 global strategy to eliminate viral hepatitis as a public health threat by 2030, and in further implementation of the "Healthy China 2030" initiative, the National Disease Control and Prevention Administration, together with eight other government departments, jointly issued China's Action Plan for Viral Hepatitis Prevention and Care (2025-2030) ("Action Plan"). Compared with the 2017-2020 Plan, the new Action Plan introduced, for the first time, explicit 80% diagnosis and treatment coverage targets for both hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV), replacing the 1% hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) prevalence target for children under five with a more ambitious 0.2% target and shifting from passive case-finding to active screening. The Action Plan outlines 6 specific targets and 13 key measures across 5 strategic areas: strengthening vaccination, enhancing comprehensive prevention, expanding testing and surveillance, improving treatment services, and strengthening health education and social support. Key challenges include a large population living with viral hepatitis, a high disease burden from cirrhosis and liver cancer, persistent care cascade gaps, fragmented service delivery, and insufficient dedicated funding. Priority actions include improving information systems for whole-course management, optimizing service delivery through medical-prevention coordination, promoting integrated multidisease-prevention efforts, and increasing resource investment, including exploring inclusion of viral hepatitis services in the basic public health service package. This Action Plan provides a strategic roadmap for China to systematically advance toward the global 2030 elimination goals.