World Hepatitis Day: Hepatitis kills about 2 people per minute

Hepatitis is a silent epidemic that kills two people per minute. In lead up to World Hepatitis Day, the Pan American Health Organisation and the World Health Organisation are urging the public to learn about the disease and get screened and treated, if necessary.

According to a joint news release issued by the health organisations Monday, viral hepatitis affects some 424 million people throughout the world, killing 1.4 million per year as a result of complications, such as acute liver failure, cirrhosis or liver cancer.

Hepatitis is sometimes called a “silent epidemic” because most people with the disease don’t realise they are infected.

World Hepatitis Day will be observed on Sunday, 28 July. This year’s theme is “This is the hepatitis. Know It. Confront it.”

People know very little about hepatitis, its potential severity, and its serious consequences for health and quality of life, therefore there is a need to intensify our information, education and communication initiatives around this disease and take action to promote prevention and early detection so people can get the treatment they need.

In the Americas, between eight million and 11 million people suffer from chronic hepatitis B infection, and seven million have chronic hepatitis C.

The disease puts a heavy burden on healthcare systems because of the high cost of treatment and, in many countries, it is the main cause for liver transplants.

The fact that most people do not have symptoms – and tend not to have them for decades until they develop chronic liver disease – has contributed to the problem of poor diagnosis and inadequate treatment.

The number of deaths throughout the world each year from causes associated with hepatitis is about equal to the number of traffic deaths, that is, more than two deaths every minute.

Hepatitis can be controlled by maintaining good hygiene, avoiding consumption of contaminated food and water, getting vaccinated for hepatitis B, practising safe sex and not sharing injections or piercing equipment.

PAHO/WHO has been collaborating with its member states on strategies to prevent and control viral hepatitis. All the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean, including the Cayman Islands, have officially introduced the hepatitis B vaccine into their child immunisation programmes, and more than 99 per cent of donated blood units are screened for the hepatitis B and C viruses.
PAHO also promotes hepatitis B vaccination of health workers and the expanded use of sterilised, disposable injecting, cutting and piercing tools and instruments to prevent cross infections, including needles used both in health facilities and in cosmetic procedures, such as tattooing.

New South Wales launches Hepatitis awareness campaign

The Lightning Ridge Sexual Health has teamed up with the AMS to present hepatitis health education with sti prevention for the 14-18 year old pupils at Collarenebri school on Friday July 26 to raise awareness of hepatitis and available treatments: this is to aid more people to present at clinic, get tested, seek treatment and help to de stigmatise the infection with in the local communities.

As part of NSW Hepatitis Awareness Week, which runs from July 21 and ends on World  Hepatitis Day on July 28, people living in local health districts of Far West and Western NSW are urged to remember key hepatitis C messages.

2010-11 NSW notifications data shows that Western NSW and Far West LHDs had the second highest and third highest notification rates, respectively, of all geographic based LHDs.

This is part of an overall trend since 2002/03 whereby hepatitis C notification rates for people in outer regional and remote areas of NSW are now higher than for people living in major cities (58.3 per 100,000 in 2010-11 versus 40.9 per 100,000).

There could be a variety of reasons for these results, including greater awareness of  hepatitis C in remote and outer regional areas, more people coming forward for testing or better health staff engagement with people at risk. However, the notifications data also reinforces that people residing in Far West and Western NSW regions need to remember the key hepatitis C prevention measures. The single most important, and single most effective, way to prevent new hepatitis C transmissions is not sharing equipment used to inject drugs. This should be supported by the continuing expansion of Needle and Syringe Programs (NSP)  to ensure all people who need to access sterile injecting equipment can do so. Younger people should also avoid sharing equipment used for tattooing and body piercing, including at ‘backyard’ parties and by friends, because blood-to-blood contact is also possible in these circumstances.

World Hepatitis Day: World Health Organisation urges action on Hepatitis treatment

WHO urges action on hepatitis threat - The World Health Organization (WHO) has urged governments to act against the five hepatitis viruses that can cause severe liver infections and lead to 1.4 million deaths every year, ahead of the 2013 World Hepatitis Day to  be observed globally 28 July.

According to WHO, some of these hepatitis viruses, most notably types B and C, can also lead to chronic and debilitating illnesses such as liver cancer and cirrhosis, in addition to loss of income and high medical expenses for hundreds of millions of people worldwide.

Viral hepatitis is referred to as a ‘silent epidemic’ because most persons do not realise that they are infected and, over decades, slowly progress to liver disease. 

The fact that many hepatitis B and C infections are silent, causing no symptoms until there is severe damage to the liver, points to the urgent need for universal access to immunization, screening, diagnosis and antiviral therapy. Hepatitis is complex because of the different types of viruses.

Hepatitis A and E are food- and water-borne infections which cause millions of cases of acute illness every year, sometimes with several months needed for a person to fully recovery.

Hepatitis B, C, and D are spread by infected body fluids including blood, by sexual contact, mother-to-child transmission during birth, or by contaminated medical equipment. 

Hepatitis B and C have a greater health burden in terms of death because they can cause life-long infection (called chronic infection), which can lead to liver cirrhosis and cancer. In fact, chronic hepatitis is the leading cause of liver cirrhosis and cancer.

WHO-approved vaccines are available to prevent hepatitis A and B, while screening of blood donors, assuring clean needle and syringes, and condom use can prevent blood-borne and sexual transmission.

Hepatitis B can be prevented by reaching every child with immunization programmes that include hepatitis B vaccine, but there is no vaccine for hepatitis C. 

Hepatitis A and E can be prevented by avoiding contaminated food and water; in addition, there is an effective WHO approved vaccine for hepatitis A.

Hepatitis medicines are now included in the WHO Essential Medicines List, which member states are encouraged to adopt. Essential medicines are selected based on disease prevalence, safety, efficacy, and comparative cost-effectiveness.

Countries can use the WHO Model List as a guide for the development of their own national list.
 
Meanwhile, ahead of the 2013 World Hepatitis Day, the WHO is releasing its first-ever country hepatitis survey, covering 126 countries.

The WHO Global policy report on the prevention and control of viral hepatitis in WHO member states identifies successes as well as gaps at country level in the implementation of four priority areas. 

The priority areas are raising awareness, evidence-based data for action, prevention of transmission, and screening, care and treatment.

The findings show that 37% of the countries have national strategies for viral hepatitis, and more work is needed in treating hepatitis. 

It also highlights that while most of the countries (82%) have established hepatitis surveillance programmes, only half of them include the monitoring of chronic hepatitis B and C, which are responsible for most severe illnesses and deaths.

The challenges posed by hepatitis were formally acknowledged by the World Health Assembly in 2010 when it adopted its first resolution on viral hepatitis, and called for a comprehensive approach to prevention and control.

Governments all over the world urged to act against five hepatitis viruses that cause severe liver infections

On World Hepatitis Day (28 July), the World Health Organization (WHO) is urging governments to act against the five hepatitis viruses that can cause severe liver infections and lead to 1.4 million deaths every year.  Some of these hepatitis viruses, most notably types B and C, can also lead to chronic and debilitating illnesses such as liver cancer and cirrhosis, in addition to loss of income and high medical expenses for hundreds of millions of people worldwide.

Viral hepatitis is referred to as a ‘silent epidemic’ because most persons do not realize that they are infected and, over decades, slowly progress to liver disease.  Many countries are only now realizing the magnitude of the disease burden and devising ways to address it.

The fact that many hepatitis B and C infections are silent, causing no symptoms until there is severe  damage to the liver, points to the urgent need for universal access to immunization, screening, diagnosis and antiviral therapy.

This year, in the run up to World Hepatitis Day, the Organization is releasing its first-ever country hepatitis survey, covering 126 countries. The WHO Global policy report on the prevention and control or viral hepatitis in WHO Member States identifies successes as well as gaps at country level in the implementation of four priority areas.  The priority areas are raising awareness, evidence-based data for action, prevention of transmission, and screening, care and treatment.

The findings show that 37% of the countries have national strategies for viral hepatitis, and more work is needed in treating hepatitis.  It also highlights that while most of the countries (82%) have established hepatitis surveillance programmes, only half of them include the monitoring of chronic hepatitis B and C, which are responsible for most severe illnesses and deaths. 

Many of the measures needed to prevent the spread of viral hepatitis disease can be put in place right now and, and doing so will offset the heavy economic costs of treating and hospitalizing patients in future. The findings underline the important work that is being done by governments to halt hepatitis through the implementation of WHO recommended policies and actions.

The challenges posed by hepatitis were formally acknowledged by the World Health Assembly in 2010 when, it adopted its first resolution on viral hepatitis, and called for a comprehensive approach to prevention and control. This has promoted a new era of awareness with more governments proactively working to address the disease. Reinforcing that call for action, WHO has been collaborating closely with countries and partners to build a strong global response.  As a result, the new report notes, 38% of countries observe World Hepatitis Day (an annual event that began in 2010) with even more countries expected to mark the day this year.