Hepatitis - what you need to know

Every year on July 28, World Hepatitis Day is celebrated and WHO decided to draw attention to this issue. In many countries there are insufficient preventive measures of infectious diseases, in particular, viral hepatitis, as well as diagnosis and treatment of infected patients.

This year, WHO paid special attention to hepatitis forms B and C, which in general account for the death of more than a million people every year.

Infecting with hepatitis can be through poor blood during transfusion, injection equipment, unsafe injections (reusable syringes, droppers, etc.).

Among people who inject drugs, more than 10 million are infected with hepatitis. Also, newborns whose mothers are infected, as well as sexual partners of infected patients, are at high risk of infection.

WHO has emphasized that health services should take measures to reduce the risks of infection, in particular, use only sterile injecting equipment, conduct a thorough investigation of donor blood and blood components used for transfusion.

In addition, condom use, reduction in the number of sexual partners, etc., will help reduce the spread of infection.

About 2 million people every year become infected with hepatitis due to low-quality injections, such infections can be prevented by disposable syringes, and WHO recommends only vital injections, if necessary, administering drugs for oral ingestion. According to statistics, 16 billion injections are made every year in the world, 90% of which are the introduction of medications, which in most cases are not vital and can be replaced without risking the patient's health for oral therapy.

Today, there are quite effective anti-hepatitis drugs that help get rid of form C and keep form B under control. Patients receiving adequate therapy have a low probability of developing cancer or cirrhosis, and also reduce the risk of infection of people close to them.

WHO encourages people who may be at risk of contracting hepatitis, undergo a survey to be sure of their health and reduce the risk of infection of others.

This year, WHO has issued a number of recommendations on the treatment of hepatitis B form, which focuses on simple diagnostic tests (non-invasive) that help determine the stage of liver disease and identify patients in need of treatment. In addition, it is necessary to carry out full therapy for patients with cirrhosis in the late stages and in treatment to give preference to the most effective drugs to date - entecavir and tenofovir.

In 2015, WHO is hosting an event in Egypt. This country was chosen not by chance - Egypt today has the highest rates in the world for the prevalence of hepatitis (about 10% of the population aged 15 to 60 years are infected with hepatitis C ).

It should be noted that the prevention of this disease in Egypt is at the proper level, thanks to WHO support. The country's health services are assisted in the development of national standards for blood safety. In addition, an injection safety program is being implemented in Egypt and WHO will support the practice of only vital injections to patients and the use of only disposable syringes.

In autumn of this year, the first ever conference on hepatitis will be held, which will discuss not only the problems associated with hepatitis, but also exchange best practices to combat this disease. The conference will be sponsored by WHO, the Government of Scotland (since the meeting will be held in one of the cities of this country), the World Alliance for Hepatitis.

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