Malta has scored badly in a new study that compares hepatitis treatment and policies across Europe, with lack of information and patient involvement mainly to blame.

The island ranked in 20th position among 30 European countries, which apart from the 27 members of the EU also included Croatia, Norway and Switzerland.

The study, conducted by Swedish-based think-tank Health Consumer Powerhouse, aimed to locate the most successful examples of treatment and policies for this viral disease.

It looked at areas such as prevention, case screening, access to treatment, national strategy, patient involvement and outcomes.

Malta scored relatively well on prevention and monitoring but dismally when it came to outcomes and national strategy.

“From our assessment and the information we have at our disposal it is evidently clear that hepatitis is not considered to be a priority for Malta,” Dr Beatriz Cebolla, one of the study’s authors, said.

“The report also shows that Malta needs to be much more transparent with regard to health data.

“This lack of transparency seems to be quite a Maltese characteristic where it comes to healthcare,” she added.

On the other hand, she lauded Malta’s prevention programmes, particularly the universal infant vaccination coverage against the disease and full funding for screening and hepatitis C testing in the community.

France was placed at the top of the index followed by Slovenia and Germany.

Viral hepatitis is a largely neglected epidemic in Europe, with an estimated 14 million people living with chronic hepatitis B and nine million infected with hepatitis C, but most unaware of the infection.

Hepatitis B is responsible for about 36,000 deaths per year in Europe and hepatitis C for about 86,000.

Early detection allows patients to receive treatment to improve the outcomes and quality of life and a rapid diagnosis prevents the disease from becoming chronic. But because chronic hepatitis is left undetected and often untreated, it is a major cause of liver cirrhosis and primary liver cancer.

What is hepatitis?

Hepatitis is a medical condition defined by the inflammation of the liver and characterised by the presence of inflammatory cells in the tissue of the organ. The condition can be self-limiting (healing on its own) or can progress to fibrosis (scarring) and cirrhosis. It may occur with limited or no symptoms, but often leads to jaundice, anorexia (poor appetite) and malaise.

Hepatitis is acute when it lasts fewer than six months and chronic when it persists for longer.

A group of viruses known as the hepatitis viruses cause most cases of hepatitis worldwide but it can also be due to toxins (notably alcohol, certain medications, some industrial organic solvents and plants), other infections and autoimmune diseases.