The journey from detection to protection: inside South Africa's hepatitis testing gaps
So why haven't we?
Part of the answer lies in awareness. In a recent survey, most South Africans said they didn't know hepatitis was a serious disease. Many had never been offered a test. The virus doesn't always present symptoms early, so it slips beneath the surface — undiagnosed, untreated and unspoken.
But another part of the answer lies in how we design our health priorities.
Testing for hepatitis still isn't fully integrated into existing services. For example, we've done critical work to normalise HIV testing — it's part of antenatal visits, school programmes, even workplace health drives. Hepatitis should be just as visible. It should be part of every antenatal screening, every STI check-up, every blood drive. Testing for one virus shouldn't mean ignoring others.
There's also a missed opportunity in our corporate and community health environments. The burden of hepatitis doesn't stop at the clinic door. Chronic liver disease affects productivity, health budgets and family stability. While specific cost data is limited in South Africa, international evidence is clear: investing in integrated testing and early diagnosis reduces healthcare costs and improves lives.
The World Health Organisation has set a goal: eliminate hepatitis as a public health threat by 2030. To get there, South Africa must do three things:
Normalise integrated testing for hepatitis B and C.
Expand public education to match the scale of the risk.
Mobilise partnerships between government, private sector, and civil society to scale up access.
Hepatitis isn't rare. It isn't untreatable. And it isn't too late.
But every day we wait, we lose lives that could have been saved with a test. Let's not let silence stand in the way of protection. Let's make this the decade where South Africa turns detection into action — and action into health.
Everyone deserves to get tested.
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