Nearly half have never been tested for hepatitis B, and many wrongly think it has no treatment
Nearly nine in 10 Canadian adults know little or nothing about chronic hepatitis B, a virus that affects an estimated 262,000 people in the country and ranks as a leading cause of liver cancer.
The survey data, which GSK released to mark World Hepatitis Day, came from a global online poll of about 5,000 people across Japan, Taiwan, China, Germany, and Canada.
Only 31 percent of Canadians surveyed rated chronic hepatitis B as a high cancer risk, a lower share than those who flagged regular alcohol use or obesity.
The survey also found that 11 percent of respondents had never heard of the virus and just 8 percent thought they were likely to contract it.
Chronic hepatitis B accounts for up to 56 percent of liver cancer cases worldwide.
The infection often goes undetected for years because many people show few or no symptoms, and over time it can progress to cirrhosis and liver cancer.
On testing, the survey found that 45 percent of Canadian adults have never been screened for hepatitis B, either because they had not considered it or did not believe they were at risk.
Among people at higher risk, nearly half said they did not intend to get tested, which GSK said suggests that risk alone may not prompt action and that stigma and misconceptions could be discouraging people from seeking care.
Misconceptions about treatment and prevention were also common.
More than half of respondents, 55 percent, wrongly believed there is no treatment for chronic hepatitis B, according to the survey, and about three in four did not know that vaccination can help protect against it.
GSK linked the results to updated Canadian guidelines for managing chronic hepatitis B, which the company said call for universal screening, universal infant vaccination across all provinces and territories, and broader treatment eligibility.
“People don’t ask for a hepatitis B test when they don’t know they’re at risk,” said Jennifer van Gennip, executive director of Action Hepatitis Canada.
She said most Canadians assume an important test would be offered as part of routine care, and she called for policies that provide one-time hepatitis B screening for all adults and vaccination for all infants so people are identified and treated earlier.
Michelle Horn, country medical director at GSK Canada, said the results show a disconnect in which chronic hepatitis B carries serious long-term risks that “many Canadians do not recognize as a concern.”
Informed conversations in clinics are often the starting point for testing and ongoing care, she added.
The World Health Organization has set a target of eliminating viral hepatitis as a public health threat by 2030, a goal Canada and other member states have committed to supporting.
