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The campaign for World Hepatitis Day 2018, which takes place on July 28, aims to eliminate type B and C viral hepatitis that affects 325 million people worldwide.
receive adequate treatment these infections cause liver cancer and cirrhosis, which together caused more than 1.3 million deaths in 2015.
One of the biggest problems in the world. Global scale lies in the fact that millions of people are infected, they do not know it and they do not receive treatment.
It is estimated that 10% of people who have a type of hepatitis do not know it.
"We have a clear vision of elimination, and we have the tools to do it.But we need to accelerate efforts to achieve our goal of eliminating hepatitis. here 2030, "said the Director-General of WHO, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, on the occasion of the World Day
. people had access to screening and treatment services for hepatitis B and C infections at the end of 2016.
What is hepatitis?
Hepatitis is an inflammation of the liver often caused by a viral infection by one of the five major viruses of hepatitis (types A, B, C, D and E. )
Can cause acute infections and progress to chronic liver disease, cirrhosis, cancer or even death. Hepatitis B and C infections are spread through contaminated blood and contaminated needles and syringes used in people who inject drugs.
Viruses can also be transmitted through unprotected bad and from a
In addition, hepatitis B and C are chronic infections that can remain asymptomatic for long periods, often for years.
The good news is that the tests were done the treatment prevents the complications of hepatitis C.
Thanks to the progress of treatment, new drugs can cure hepatitis C in three months or less.
The updated WHO guide requires that all adults and children over the age of 12 living with hepatitis C are treated with these new drugs.
Situation in the Americas
According to the Atlas of the Pan American Health Organization, a branch of WHO in the region, in the Americas, 3.9 million people live with chronic hepatitis B and 7.2 million with chronic hepatitis C, which causes more than 125,000 deaths a year
Liver cancer is the fourth leading cause of cancer death among men and seventh among women in the Western Hemisphere, which represents a major public health problem.
Great progress in dealing with the public health risks posed by hepatitis, many are still behind, "says Marcos Espinal, director of the Department of Communicable Diseases and Determinants of Environmental Health of the United States. OPS
"We know that treating hepatitis C can reduce the risk of developing liver cancer by 75%, but only 14% of people with hepatitis C in Latin America and the Caribbean were diagnosed and less than In 1965 and 2016, the health ministers of all the Americas agreed on a series of measures to reduce the burden of hepatitis and eliminate them as that public health problem by 2030. [19659002] efforts to ensure immunization against hepatitis B have continued and all Latin American and Caribbean countries vaccinate children under 5 years of age. year, of which 22 in 24 hours after birth, as recommended by WHO
However, with regard to the treatment of people with chronic hepatitis C, there is still much to be done.
New advances show that over 95% of infected people could be cured. . However, throughout the region of the Americas, the vast majority of people living with hepatitis C do not have affordable access to these highly effective drugs. For example, a direct-acting antiviral (DAA) treatment can cure hepatitis C in three months or less.
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