The organisation emphasises the need for all health services to reduce risks by using only sterile equipment for injections and other medical procedures, to test all donated blood and blood components for hepatitis B and C (as well as HIV and syphilis) and to promote the use of the hepatitis B vaccine.
Advertisement
It sounds like a big task, but, when you look at the facts – that 400 million people live with hepatitis strands B and C every single day – a combination of education, sanitation and understanding are the only tools available to fight the disease. Your body can fight it off, as in the case of hepatitis A sufferers, but hepatitis B can develop into chronic hepatitis B, which can lead to cirrhosis and liver cancer.
Globally, Viral hepatitis kills 4,000 people every day.
People who were infected when they were less than one year old would come to know of the problem when they attain the age of 30 or 40 years. Today, on World Hepatitis Day, we join in these efforts to improve lives here at home and overseas by raising awareness of a silent epidemic and reaffirming our commitment to combat it.
Once corrupted with Hepatitis Chemical, a few men and women may retrieve fully, nevertheless most, 60 to 70 to 85 percent, will build up long-term infection.
“These infections, diseases, deaths and associated hardships for individuals, families, societies and economies can and must be prevented”, she added. “And hepatitis C can be cured, especially if it is detected and treated early”.
In addition to safe clinical practice, WHO recommends all children get the HBV vaccine since approximately 780,000 people die each year from the infection.
Some strains (A, B and E) can be prevented with vaccination.
Many people suffering from Hepatitis C remain untreated because the prices of the medicines are out of their reach. Many people are not aware they have the disease until the virus has already caused liver cancer or liver damage. Around 60 per cent of people living with HIV are co-infected with Hepatitis, with increased risk of complications and deaths.
Hepatitis C: It is more common in adults than in children.
Advertisement
Leading Hepatitis C authority, Associate Professor Catherine Stedman, says that recent advances in treatments, diagnostic technologies and methods for assessing the stage of disease mean that New Zealand now has the potential opportunity to eliminate Hepatitis C. The World Hepatitis Summit is being held in order to upscale the world’s response to hepatitis and to address the need for a global forum to examine public health approaches to the disease.
