Ignorance is fueling the spread of hepatitis B in Asia, where patients are failing to get proper treatment and not enough is done to reduce transmission of the virus from mother to child, an expert said.

The 10th leading cause of death worldwide, chronic hepatitis B affects 360 million people globally.

Of these, 281 million are in Asia, and one out of every four of them will die from either cirrhosis - scarring of the liver - or liver cancer later in life.