Across India, tens of millions carry a silent infection that most will never know they have — until the damage is already done. In a country that bears nearly a eighth of the world's Hepatitis B burden, fewer than one in thirty infected people have been diagnosed, and treatment reaches almost no one. Mission Defeat Hepatitis, a partnership between pharmaceutical company Cipla and the Indian liver disease association INASL, is now scaling its screening effort to reach 2.5 lakh people through thousands of camps nationwide, wagering that visibility and access can begin to close a gap that has lon
India Scales Hepatitis B Screening to 2.5 Lakh Tests Amid Low Diagnosis Rates
Millions of Indians living with undiagnosed Hepatitis B face risk of severe liver complications including cirrhosis and cancer due to lack of early detection and treatment access.
40 million people carrying a virus they don't know they have
Mark
Why does India carry such a large share of the global Hepatitis B burden?
Mimi
The disease spreads through blood and bodily fluids, and in a country with 1.4 billion people, limited screening infrastructure, and gaps in blood safety practices, the virus has had room to establish itself widely. But the real problem isn't just transmission—it's that most people don't know they're infected.
Mark
So the 3 percent diagnosis rate is the actual bottleneck?
Mimi
Exactly. You can't treat what you don't know you have. And without treatment, the virus quietly damages the liver over years or decades. By the time someone develops symptoms, they may already have cirrhosis or be at risk of liver cancer.
Mark
What makes this campaign different from previous efforts?
Mimi
Scale and coordination. They're not just running a few clinics—they're deploying 8,500 screening camps with 5,000 doctors. They're also using visibility tools like the giant liver model to make the disease feel real and urgent to the public.
Mark
Does getting screened actually lead to treatment?
Mimi
That's the unspoken question. The campaign emphasizes early diagnosis, but the source material doesn't detail what happens after someone tests positive. Access to treatment is still a separate challenge.
Mark
Why partner with Cipla specifically?
Mimi
Cipla is a pharmaceutical manufacturer. They have an interest in getting people diagnosed because diagnosed patients become customers for antiviral drugs. It's not cynical—it aligns their business incentive with public health need.
Mark
What would success look like?
Mimi
Moving that 3 percent diagnosis rate upward. If they can identify even 10 or 15 percent of the infected population through these camps, they've changed the trajectory for millions of people who would otherwise discover their infection only when the disease is advanced.
Le Pouls
- Forty million Indians live with chronic Hepatitis B without knowing it, leaving them exposed to cirrhosis, liver cancer, and organ failure with no intervention in sight.
- A diagnosis rate of just 3% and a treatment rate below 1% reveal a healthcare system struggling to reach a disease that spreads in silence across a vast and diverse population.
- Mission Defeat Hepatitis is mobilizing 8,500 screening camps and thousands of doctors to push past the first phase's 1.5 lakh screenings toward a new target of 2.5 lakh tested individuals.
- A traveling installation — the World's Largest Liver Model, built from test kit covers — is being deployed as a public art provocation to draw communities toward testing sites.
- The campaign's deeper challenge is not infrastructure but trust: persuading people that a positive result leads to care, not just a diagnosis delivered into a void.
Across India, tens of millions carry a silent infection that most will never know they have — until the damage is already done. In a country that bears nearly a eighth of the world's Hepatitis B burden, fewer than one in thirty infected people have been diagnosed, and treatment reaches almost no one. Mission Defeat Hepatitis, a partnership between pharmaceutical company Cipla and the Indian liver disease association INASL, is now scaling its screening effort to reach 2.5 lakh people through thousands of camps nationwide, wagering that visibility and access can begin to close a gap that has long cost lives quietly.
India is home to roughly 40 million people living with chronic Hepatitis B, most of them unaware they are infected. The country carries nearly 12 percent of the global disease burden, yet only 3 percent of those infected have been diagnosed and fewer than 1 percent receive treatment. Without early detection, the infection quietly progresses toward cirrhosis, liver cancer, and organ failure — outcomes that are largely preventable if caught in time.
To confront this gap, pharmaceutical company Cipla and the Indian National Association for the Study of the Liver launched Mission Defeat Hepatitis, a coordinated screening campaign now entering its second and larger phase. The first phase mobilized over 5,000 doctors and completed 1.5 lakh screenings — an effort recognized in the International Book of Records. The expanded campaign aims to reach more than 2.5 lakh people through a network of over 8,500 camps operating across the country.
The campaign has also built a striking public symbol: the World's Largest Liver Model, assembled entirely from Hepatitis B antigen test kit covers. The installation travels with the screening effort, functioning as both public art and an invitation to get tested. Senior figures from Cipla and INASL have framed the initiative as proof that coordinated action between industry, scientific institutions, and communities can meaningfully shift outcomes for patients.
The expanded push coincides with World Hepatitis Day, a moment of heightened global attention on a disease that remains largely invisible in the countries where it is most prevalent. Beyond logistics, the campaign faces a quieter challenge — convincing millions of people that testing is worth their time and that a positive result will open a door to real care, not just an unanswered diagnosis.
India is home to roughly 40 million people carrying chronic Hepatitis B infection, yet the vast majority have no idea they are sick. This gap between infection and awareness sits at the heart of a new nationwide screening push that aims to test 2.5 lakh people across the country through more than 8,500 screening camps. The numbers tell a stark story: India accounts for nearly 12 percent of the global Hepatitis B disease burden, yet only 3 percent of infected individuals have been diagnosed, and fewer than 1 percent receive treatment. The rest live in the dark, vulnerable to cirrhosis, liver cancer, and organ failure.
The effort, called Mission Defeat Hepatitis, brings together Cipla, a major pharmaceutical company, and INASL, the Indian National Association for the Study of the Liver, in what organizers describe as a collaborative push to catch cases early and connect patients to care. The campaign is not new—it began with a first phase that mobilized more than 5,000 doctors across India and completed 1.5 lakh screenings, an achievement recognized in the International Book of Records. But the scale is expanding now, with the second phase aiming to reach more than 2.5 lakh people through a network of screening camps that will operate nationwide.
One of the campaign's most visible symbols is the World's Largest Liver Model, constructed entirely from Hepatitis B antigen test kit covers. The installation serves as both a public art piece and a teaching tool, meant to draw attention to the disease and underscore why testing matters. It will travel with the screening campaign, appearing at various sites where people can get tested.
Dr. Jaideep Gogtay, Chief Medical Officer at Cipla, frames the challenge in straightforward terms: awareness and early diagnosis are the most effective tools available to identify infected people and get them into treatment before serious damage occurs. The initiative, he says, works by bringing together doctors, scientific institutions, and communities in a coordinated effort to improve access to screening and reduce the overall disease burden.
Prof. Dr. Ajay Duseja, Secretary General of INASL, echoes this view, emphasizing that early detection is crucial to managing Hepatitis B and that collaborative work between institutions can meaningfully improve outcomes for patients. Healthcare experts involved in the campaign stress that expanding screening programs and strengthening public awareness are not optional—they are essential to preventing advanced liver disease and securing better long-term health for millions of Indians who currently carry the infection without knowing it.
The timing of the expanded campaign coincides with World Hepatitis Day, a moment when global attention turns to a disease that remains largely invisible in countries like India where it is most prevalent. The challenge ahead is not just logistical—it is one of reach and trust. Getting 2.5 lakh people to screening camps requires not only the infrastructure and trained personnel but also the public belief that testing is worth their time and that a positive result will lead somewhere meaningful. For now, the campaign is betting that visibility, accessibility, and the promise of early intervention will be enough to move the needle on a disease that has long thrived in the shadows of underdiagnosis.
Citations marquantes
Awareness and early diagnosis remain the most effective way to identify infected individuals and connect them to timely treatment— Dr. Jaideep Gogtay, Chief Medical Officer at Cipla
Early diagnosis plays a crucial role in Hepatitis B management and collaborative efforts can significantly improve patient outcomes— Prof. Dr. Ajay Duseja, Secretary General of INASL
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