World Marks World Hepatitis Day

The annual event provides international focus for patient groups and people living with viral hepatitis.

It is an opportunity to raise awareness and influence real change in disease prevention and access to testing and treatment.

This year’s theme is ‘Think Again’ a theme thought to acknowledge that we do not know nearly enough about viral hepatitis as a health threat in much of the world.

World Hepatitis Day was launched by the World Hepatitis Alliance in 2008 in response to the concern that chronic viral hepatitis did not have the level of awareness, nor the political priority, seen with other communicable diseases such as HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria.

In May 2010 the World Health Assembly passed resolution WHA63.18 on viral hepatitis which provides official endorsement of World Hepatitis Day.

Since 2010 World Hepatitis Day has been coordinated by the World Hepatitis Alliance in collaboration with the WHO.

India has over 40 million Hepatitis B infected patients, second only to China, and most people with chronic Hepatitis B or C are unaware of their infection, putting them at serious risk of developing cirrhosis or liver cancer which are life threatening.

Every year, nearly 600,000 patients die from HBV infection in the region but the government does not yet have national policies relating to screening and referral for Hepatitis B or Hepatitis C, it said.

Hepatitis B is a serious global health problem, responsible for 1.4 million deaths every year compared to 1.5 million deaths from HIV/AIDS and 1.2 million from each of malaria and TB, this according to the Institute of Liver and Biliary Sciences (ILBS).

By Maureen Murimi.

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