Less than 1 in 100 Hepatitis patients get treatment

There are certain pockets where there is a higher density of the Hepatitis C and Hepatitis B. The high risk individuals are those who receive the multiple transfusions, those who have been incarcerated and those who have history of high risk behaviour in the past.

World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that in 2015, viral hepatitis was responsible for 1.34 million deaths per year.

Around 200,000 people in the United Kingdom are thought to be living with chronic HCV, yet challenges in awareness remain a barrier to timely diagnosis and treatment.

Colleen Flanigan is the director of the Bureau of Hepatitis Health Care at the New York State Department of Health AIDS Institute.

It often doesn’t have any specific symptoms until significant liver damage is caused. About 6.7 percent of South Africans were infected with hepatitis B, but many did not know their status. So does a vaccine and treatment for Hepatitis B. In 2010, infants in around 150 countries accross the world were routinely given the vaccine.

“Each medication is different, but they remove all traces of the virus from your blood within three months”, says Curry. While deaths from tuberculosis and HIV have been declining, deaths from hepatitis are increasing. It is transmitted from person to person via blood or fluids contaminated with blood.

-Viral Hepatitis is included in Sustainable Development Goals.

Marking World Hepatitis Day, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) called on people to take action to find the “missing millions”, including intravenous drug users and people in prison.

During the day long proceedings, visitors were screened for hepatitis C, received hepatitis B vaccination and went through ultrasound of the abdomen to ascertain the possibility for any liver disease. Further, Hepatitis E virus was the most found laboratory diagnosed viral hepatitis in India, followed by Hepatitis A virus, the report noted. On the other hand, hepatitis B and hepatitis C may cause chronic liver diseases.

The World Hepatitis Alliance first launched World Hepatitis Day in 2008. The Theme this year is -Eliminate Hepatitis.

Think about health risks if you are planning to get a tattoo or body piercing.

As an early detection of Hepatitis B and C can save lives of patients, they need to be aware of this disease and have hepatitis screening nearly every year.

To mark World Hepatitis Day 2018, WHO is holding several events with the Government of Mongolia, a country that is heavily burdened by hepatitis but also a champion in the global fight.

-In 2016, 194 governments adopted WHO’s Global Strategy on Viral Hepatitis, which includes a goal of eliminating hepatitis B and C by 2030.

However, “over 95 per cent of people with chronic hepatitis do not know they are infected and therefore, succumb to liver cirrhosis or cancer”, said Subhash Gupta, Chairman, from the Max Super Speciality Hospital, Saket.