# 5721
As I mentioned last week, today – July 28th – has been designated World Hepatitis Day by the World Health Organization in an attempt to shed light on a group of viruses that infect nearly 1/3rd of the globe’s population.
Source – WHO click on images for Fact Sheets
Today a brief roundup of some of the news stories, research, and web resources dealing with this often `silent’ killer.
First stop, the WHO.
Marking the first World Hepatitis Day
28 July 2011 -- About one million deaths per year are attributed to viral hepatitis infections. The first World Hepatitis Day raises awareness and understanding of viral hepatitis and the diseases that it causes. This provides an opportunity to focus on actions like: strengthening prevention, increasing hepatitis B vaccine coverage and coordinating a global response to hepatitis.
Next stop is the CDC, which released a media statement yesterday, excerpts of which I have posted below:
For Immediate Release: July 27, 2011
Contact: CDC Media Relations
(404) 639-3286CDC Statement on World Hepatitis Day 2011
On this first World Health Organization (WHO)-sponsored World Hepatitis Day, July 28, 2011, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) joins the world in reflecting on the remarkable successes and enormous challenges in the global effort to prevent and control viral hepatitis.
These successes and challenges are amplified because viral hepatitis is not a single disease. Hepatitis is caused by at least five viruses—including two spread by water or food contaminated with feces (hepatitis A and E) and three transmitted by blood and body fluids (hepatitis B, D, and C) during childbirth (from infected mother to child); through injecting drug use, needle sticks, or transfusions; or through sexual contact. Hepatitis B and C infections can cause cirrhosis of the liver and lead to liver cancer.
Today, more than 500 million persons worldwide are living with viral hepatitis and do not have adequate access to care—increasing their risk for premature death from liver cirrhosis and liver cancer. Each year, more than 1 million people die from viral hepatitis and millions of new infections add to this global burden of disease and death.
From IRIN today, a feature on the prevalence of Hepatitis C in Egypt, and that country’s attempts to combat it.
EGYPT: Taking on the hepatitis C virus
CAIRO, 28 July 2011 (IRIN) - Egypt has stepped up efforts to curb the hepatitis C virus (HCV) by opening treatment centres, offering free drugs to the poor, and launching a massive public awareness campaign, say officials.
“We managed to dedicate more money for the treatment of the virus this year,” said Waheed Doss, chairman of the National Anti-Virus C Campaign, a state-run effort to fight the disease. “We managed to give free treatment to 140,000 patients last year alone,” he told IRIN.
And from The Lancet this morning, we have an extensive look at the prevalence of Hepatitis B & C among a specific subset of the world’s population; Injecting drug users:
Global epidemiology of hepatitis B and hepatitis C in people who inject drugs: results of systematic reviews
Paul K Nelson MHSc , Bradley M Mathers MBChB , Benjamin Cowie PhD , Holly Hagan PhD , Prof Don Des Jarlais PhD , Danielle Horyniak BBioMedSci , Prof Louisa Degenhardt PhD
After a review of the available peer reviewed literature, these researchers estimated national, regional, and global prevalence of hepatitis C (HCV) and hepatitis B (HBV) among IDUs (injecting drug users).
Their interpretation of the results states:
More IDUs have anti-HCV than HIV infection, and viral hepatitis poses a key challenge to public health. Variation in the coverage and quality of existing research creates uncertainty around estimates. Improved and more complete data and reporting are needed to estimate the scale of the issue, which will inform efforts to prevent and treat HCV and HBV in IDUs.
From the UK Guardian newspaper, an essay by Charles Gore - president of the World Hepatitis Alliance – that looks at the societal stigma of Hepatitis, along with its impact on public health.
Hepatitis is not just a health issue
World Hepatitis Day recognises the enormous public health challenge viral hepatitis represents and gives us a chance to tackle the stigma around the disease
And lastly, a couple of links to major online portals of information on Hepatitis that are involved in promoting World Hepatitis Day:
National Viral Hepatitis roundtable
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