Hepatitis C Epidemic Among Rohingya Refugees in Cox’s Bazar: A Public Health Emergency

International health organisations are struggling to respond to an alarming epidemic of hepatitis C in Rohingya refugees in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh. 20% of Rohingya adults, an estimated 86 000 people, in refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar have active infection with hepatitis C virus (HCV), according to research by Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF). “We can speak of a generalised epidemic because we have one in five adults presenting with active infection”, Birgit Schramm, an epidemiologist at Epicentre, MSF’s research institute in Paris, France, told The Lancet Gastroenterology & Hepatology. “Hepatitis C is a public health emergency for Rohingya refugees”, said John Ward, Director of the Coalition for Global Hepatitis Elimination (CGHE). “Based on general population surveys I am aware of, the 1 million Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh have the highest rates of hepatitis C globally”, he noted.

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* Photo credit: Ingebjørg Kårstad/NRC