NEW DELHI: Eradication of polio and HIV/AIDS has been two major successes in health sector in India. On World Hepatitis Day on Monday, World Health Organization called for using similar strategies and infrastructure to check the spread of infection caused by Hepatitis viruses.
The issue was discussed at the first roundtable consultation on viral hepatitis organized by WHO at Institute of Liver and Biliary Sciences.
"The HIV/AIDS programme in India has been successful mainly because of its robust sentinel surveillance mechanism, involvement of community health workers and NGOs to spread awareness and availability of free drugs. These strategies and infrastructure can be used to spread awareness about Hepatitis B and C that follow similar modes of transmission," said Dr Nicole Seguy, technical advisor at the WHO country office.
There are five main hepatitis viruses, of which B and C cause the most fatalities as these can lead to liver cirrhosis and cancer. Dr Seguy said preventive measures such as compulsory vaccination for Hepatitis B, promoting safe sex and screening of blood for infections at the time of transfusion can help check the spread of diseases.
"Though there is treatment available for Hepatitis C, few can afford it. The government should make efforts to subsidize or make drugs available for free to those infected," she added.
Dr S K Sarin, director of ILBS, said a key recommendation made by the experts group at the WHO meet was that the government should utilize services of 17,000 HIV surveillance centres for screening Hepatitis B and C patients. "If one person in the family has Hepatitis B, chances of others having it are high. It is important to screen them for the virus before vaccination because the vaccines can only protect uninfected patients," he said.
Nata Menabde, WHO representative to India, also stressed on the need for reliable information on viral hepatitis for building prevention and control measures. "WHO calls upon all partners and stakeholders to make the 'silent' epidemic of viral hepatitis more visible and more manageable," she said.
"We have had massive awareness campaigns for polio, HIV or tuberculosis in our country. Hepatitis is also one such disease which can be prevented to a large extent if people know about it," said Dr S K Acharya, HOD, gastroenterology, at AIIMS. According to him, patients get to know about the disease at a very late stage.
TOI
The issue was discussed at the first roundtable consultation on viral hepatitis organized by WHO at Institute of Liver and Biliary Sciences.
"The HIV/AIDS programme in India has been successful mainly because of its robust sentinel surveillance mechanism, involvement of community health workers and NGOs to spread awareness and availability of free drugs. These strategies and infrastructure can be used to spread awareness about Hepatitis B and C that follow similar modes of transmission," said Dr Nicole Seguy, technical advisor at the WHO country office.
There are five main hepatitis viruses, of which B and C cause the most fatalities as these can lead to liver cirrhosis and cancer. Dr Seguy said preventive measures such as compulsory vaccination for Hepatitis B, promoting safe sex and screening of blood for infections at the time of transfusion can help check the spread of diseases.
"Though there is treatment available for Hepatitis C, few can afford it. The government should make efforts to subsidize or make drugs available for free to those infected," she added.
Dr S K Sarin, director of ILBS, said a key recommendation made by the experts group at the WHO meet was that the government should utilize services of 17,000 HIV surveillance centres for screening Hepatitis B and C patients. "If one person in the family has Hepatitis B, chances of others having it are high. It is important to screen them for the virus before vaccination because the vaccines can only protect uninfected patients," he said.
Nata Menabde, WHO representative to India, also stressed on the need for reliable information on viral hepatitis for building prevention and control measures. "WHO calls upon all partners and stakeholders to make the 'silent' epidemic of viral hepatitis more visible and more manageable," she said.
"We have had massive awareness campaigns for polio, HIV or tuberculosis in our country. Hepatitis is also one such disease which can be prevented to a large extent if people know about it," said Dr S K Acharya, HOD, gastroenterology, at AIIMS. According to him, patients get to know about the disease at a very late stage.
TOI
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