据估计，在亚太地区每30秒就有一个人死于肝炎病毒。这种情况也造成了各大制药巨头如葛兰素史克、默沙东等投入巨资研发肝炎疫苗。然而，缺少国家力量的帮助使得这些疫苗的效果大打折扣。WHO发出这一报告时恰逢世界肝炎日，这一报告涵盖了126个国家的乙肝防治情况。值得庆幸的是，调查中涉及的很多国家已经开始采取相应的措施。

　　目前世界上比较流行的乙肝疫苗市场上强有力的竞争者有葛兰素史克和默沙东两家公司。而最近以色列的SciVac公司也开发出了自己的产品Sci-B-Vac，正在寻求FDA批准。

　　详细英文报道：

　　In Asia Pacific viral hepatitis kills one person every 30 seconds. This creates a huge opportunity for vaccines from GlaxoSmithKline ($GSK), Merck ($MRK) and others to improve public health, yet a lack of national action plans is restricting the impact of these preventative measures.

　　The World Health Organization (WHO) has looked at the problem in a report timed to coincide with World Hepatitis Day. In the report--which contains survey results from 126 countries--WHO shows how few of the nations badly affected by hepatitis B are equipped to tackle the virus. A paper published in the journal Vaccine last year found East Asia in particular is struggling to bring hepatitis B under control. China and Mongolia both suffer from hepatitis B endemicity levels of 5% to 7% in children and adults, while Southeast Asian countries also face a high disease burden among the older group.

　　Most people are unaware they are carrying hepatitis viruses, and the infection can cause fatal diseases if left untreated. Hepatitis B and C cause an estimated 57% of cases of liver cirrhosis and 78% of cases of primary liver cancer. Many of these cases are preventable. "We have a vaccine for hepatitis B and new treatments for chronic hepatitis C that could save millions of lives, but none of these matter if governments fail to tackle viral hepatitis. What we need is for governments across the region to approach viral hepatitis in the same way that most have HIV/AIDS, TB and malaria. This starts with the development of a national action plan," joint secretary of the Coalition to Eradicate Viral Hepatitis in Asia Pacific Stephen Locarnini told The Guardian.

　　Around one-third of respondents to the WHO survey already have a plan in place, and all bar one of these include a vaccine component. GSK and Merck are major players in the $700 million market, but they face competition in some Asian and African countries from Israel-based SciVac. The SciVac vaccine, Sci-B-Vac, is made up of all three native proteins of hepatitis B, compared with just one in GSK's Engerix-B. SciVac is due to start a clinical trial of Sci-B-Vac in the U.S. to generate data for a submission to FDA, Reuters reports. Dynavax ($DVAX) is also trying to bring a hepatitis B vaccine to market in the U.S., but an FDA rejection and a request for more data set its plans back.