Mongolia's Healthy Liver programme cuts hepatitis rates, treats 100,000-plus patients

What is the background?

Viral hepatitis has long strained Mongolia’s health system. National surveys in 2015 found hepatitis B markers in 6.9% of adults and hepatitis C markers in 6.7% of adults. Liver cancer linked to these infections was a leading cause of death. The Ministry of Health launched the Healthy Liver programme to reverse the trend.

What happened?

The Healthy Liver programme ran in two phases. The first covered 2016 to 2020. The second covers 2022 to 2025, under Government Resolution A/577. Between 2017 and 2020, health workers screened 1.15 million adults for hepatitis B and C. The campaign found 90,376 hepatitis B cases and 107,871 hepatitis C cases. By 2023, more than 120,000 people had a confirmed hepatitis C diagnosis. Over 56% of them had started treatment.

A peer-reviewed review confirmed these results. It was published in the Journal of Pharmaceutical Policy and Practice in April 2026. Researchers from the Mongolian National University of Medical Sciences, the National Centre for Communicable Diseases, and the Ministry of Health drew on studies and government data spanning 2000 to 2025. They found hepatitis B prevalence fell from 6.9% in 2015 to 5.5% in 2023. Hepatitis C prevalence fell from 6.7% to 3.7% over the same period.

How did it happen?

The Ministry of Health worked with the National Centre for Communicable Diseases and hospitals nationwide to run the screening drive. Twenty-two laboratories gained equipment for hepatitis C viral load testing by 2022. That let more clinics confirm cases locally instead of sending samples to the capital.

The national Health Insurance Fund lowered treatment costs. A 28-day course of direct-acting antiviral medicine for hepatitis C dropped to $40–$50, with 70% reinsured. Hepatitis B medicine costs were cut in half. Hospitalized liver cancer patients received full coverage for their treatment.

Community groups extended the programme’s reach. Hepatitis Free Mongolia, a local nonprofit, screened 7,397 people and provided 3,535 liver ultrasounds during its second phase, from 2021 to 2025. It worked alongside Rotary International and the Flagstaff International Relief Effort. Infant vaccination also played a role: more than 95% of infants have received the hepatitis B vaccine since the policy began in 1991.

Why does it matter?

Fewer chronic infections mean fewer future cases of liver cancer and liver failure. Annual cases of hepatocellular carcinoma, a liver cancer strongly linked to hepatitis, fell from 857 in 2015 to 567 in 2022. Hepatitis B infection in children under five dropped to 0.3% by 2023. That result met a World Health Organization regional target for the first time.

The review’s authors describe Mongolia as one of the first 12 countries moving toward the World Health Organization’s hepatitis elimination goal. They say it is the first lower- or middle-income country in Asia or the Pacific to make that commitment.

What were the key results?

• 1.15 million adults screened for hepatitis B and C between 2017 and 2020
• Hepatitis C prevalence fell from 6.7% in 2015 to 3.7% in 2023
• Hepatitis B prevalence fell from 6.9% in 2015 to 5.5% in 2023
• More than 120,000 hepatitis C cases diagnosed by 2023, over 56% treated
• Annual liver cancer cases linked to hepatitis fell from 857 (2015) to 567 (2022)
• Hepatitis B in children under five cut to 0.3% by 2023, meeting the WHO regional target

What happens next?

Mongolia’s Ministry of Health aims to cut total viral hepatitis prevalence by 90% within the next decade. It also targets an 85% drop in related deaths, according to the review.

Researchers called for continued investment in rural screening. Testing outside Ulaanbaatar still lags behind the capital.

Hepatitis Free Mongolia and its partners plan to keep training local health workers. That will let smaller clinics screen and refer patients without specialist support on site.

The review’s authors recommend Mongolia track outcomes every year. That way, gains made since 2015 will not slip as programme funding shifts after 2025.