Stockholm, Shawwal 22, 1437, July 27, 2016, SPA -- European countries need to step up testing and treatment programmes for viral hepatitis, which can cause liver disease and affects millions of people in the region, a European health agency said Wednesday, according to dpa. An estimated 10 million Europeans are believed to live with chronic hepatitis B and C, two of the various hepatitis viruses that cause inflammation of the liver. A common, largely "silent" disease, it can lead - when chronic - to cirrhosis, liver cancer and death. However, many people infected with the virus are not aware of the condition as they do not have any symptoms, the Stockholm-based European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) said in a statement ahead of World Hepatitis Day, which falls on Thursday. ECDC and other partners have set a 2030 target to reduce the global number of hepatitis cases by 90 per cent and to slash mortality rates. --SPA 16:01 LOCAL TIME 13:01 GMT www.spa.gov.sa/w