WORLD leaders will today meet in Glasgow to discuss how to stamp out hepatitis.

The first ever World Hepatitis Summit will be held at the SECC and hosted by the Scottish Government, which is leading the fight against the potentially fatal virus.

The three-day summit will discuss the draft WHO Global Health Sector Strategy on viral hepatitis.

Health officials are aiming for a 90% reduction in new cases of chronic hepatitis B and C, a 65% reduction in hepatitis B and C deaths and 80% of chronic hepatitis B and C infections treated by 2030.

Viral hepatitis is inflammation of the liver caused by a virus. There are five different viruses, hepatitis A, B, C, D and E.

They all cause short term infection. But the hepatitis B, C viruses can also cause long-term infection, which can lead to life-threatening complications such as liver scarring, liver failure, and liver cancer.

Worldwide, the virus kills more than 1.4 million people a year.

In Scotland, liver-related deaths among people diagnosed with hepatitis C increased from 43 in 1996 to 139 in 2013.

The event is being supported by Glasgow Caledonian University and Health Protection Scotland.

Viral hepatitis now kills more people than HIV/AIDS, or TB, or malaria and has become the seventh biggest annual killer globally.

Charles Gore, President of the World Hepatitis Alliance said: “We already have almost all the tools needed to eliminate viral hepatitis.

"What we don’t have yet is the commitment, the know-how and the funding to use these tools.

"This summit is about empowering countries to take the practical steps needed at a national level; it is about how to take a vision and make it happen.”