WHO marks World Hepatitis Day with calls for eliminating the disease by 2030

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has commemorated World Hepatitis Day with calls for the global elimination of the disease by 2030.

In a statement penned by WHO Communications Officer, Sonali Reddy, the organisation states the 2021 campaign themed ‘‘Hepatitis can’t wait’’ should be a call to action to actualise the disease control plans.

Although WHO lauded the tremendous efforts injected by various governments, it also lamented that the COVID-19 pandemic had dented such campaigns

The statement partially read, ‘‘while progress has been made in the hepatitis response, there is still a long way to go. In far too many countries, priority interventions remain inaccessible to the populations most severely affected or at higher risk.

‘‘The COVID-19 pandemic has impeded the development and delivery of core services that tackle viral hepatitis and other infectious diseases and NCDs.’’

In this regard, the health body has proposed that governments can now use the lessons learnt in controlling COVID-19 in ensuring limited new infections.  

‘‘The lessons learned from the innovations developed during the pandemic response can inform core service delivery programming, as part of the overall effort to reduce persisting inequalities in access to health care and achieve universal health coverage,’’ WHO advised.

Infections

According to WHO statistics, over 354 million people are currently battling chronic types of hepatitis with 8,000 new infections of Hepatitis B and C being recorded in a day globally. These have translated into more than one million deaths in a year as a result of liver cancer and other liver complications.

A 2019 Viral Hepatitis Scorecard report depicted a saddening state of affairs in South Sudan, with the youngest country topping the continent in terms of the prevalence of the disease at 22.2 per cent.

The report indicated that over 2.7 million people were chronic carriers of the disease. Sierra Leone came second at 18.6 per cent as Liberia came third at 14.9 per cent.  

WHO defines the disease as ‘‘an inflammation of the liver that is caused by a variety of infectious viruses and non-infectious agents leading to a range of health problems’’, adding that ‘‘some of which can be fatal’’. Also, there are various types such as A, B, C, D and E.  The symptoms linked to hepatitis include fatigue, dark urine, flu-like symptoms, abdominal pain, pale stool, weight loss, loss of appetite and the yellowing of the skin