Awareness key to tackling, controlling various types of hepatitis,
Karachi:The number of people suffering from various types of hepatitis, especially the HCV and the HBV, is on the rise in the country, but there is no credible database available that could tell the annual mortality rate due to the viral disease and the rate at which it is spreading in the country.
Various estimates were presented by the experts on Thursday during symposiums, workshops and conferences to mark the World Hepatitis Day, and according to that, the number of people suffering from the hepatitis B&C combined could be around 14 to 16 million.
Thousands of people die annually in the country due to the complications caused by the hepatitis B&C infections, including liver cirrhosis and cancer, as the treatment of liver diseases is extremely difficult, costly and painful.
Some of the common causes of hepatitis B&C are having unprotected sex with an infected person, sharing drug needles, getting a tattoo or body piercing with dirty needles and tools that were used on someone else, getting pricked with a needle that has infected blood in it, sharing a toothbrush, razor or other personal items with an infected person.
An infected woman can transfer hepatitis B to her baby at birth or through breastfeeding.
Hepatitis A&E are the viral infections that are no longer a threat to people in the developed world, but are prevalent in Pakistan where highly polluted water is supplied and consumed by the people.
These two types, however, are not life-threatening and can be cured with medicines.
These were the observations made by some experts, gastroenterologists and specialists of liver diseases while giving their expert opinions on hepatitis, its types and available resources to tackle the disease in the country.
One of the main events to mark the World Hepatitis Day was organized by the National Institute of Liver & G.I. Diseases of the Dow University of Health Sciences (DUHS) on “Hepatitis and its Complications” along with free screening and vaccinations for hepatitis B & C at the Ojha Campus of the DUHS on Thursday.
The Vice-Chancellor of the DUHS, Prof. Masood Hameed Khan, said that hepatitis was a silent killer and had emerged as a major global health problem.
Diagnosing the disease at an early stage and proper treatment reduced the disease by 90 percent, he said.
“Dow University will soon launch a web page on its official website containing hepatitis information,” he said.
Considering the lack of facilities, complications and costly treatment of liver diseases, Dow University had also established a National Institute of Liver & G.I. Diseases at its Ojha Campus which was one of its type, where all the indoor and outdoor treatment facilities would also be provided at a minimum cost, he further told the participants.
Dr Rana Qamar Masood, director of NILGID, said fatty liver was the accumulation of fat in liver cells, adding that an inflammation of the liver associated with an increase of fat deposits might occur among middle-aged, overweight and often diabetic patients.
Dr Shahid Ahmed, assistant professor at the Ziauddin University, spoke on portal hypertension and its complication, saying portal hypertension was a major complication of chronic liver disease.
Dr Atiqa Wasim spoke on “hepatocellular carcinoma and its treatment”, saying hepatocellular carcinoma was the most common type of liver cancer.
The Sindh Institute of Urology and Transplantation (SIUT) also marked the World Hepatitis Day by providing free screening for hepatitis B&C at its premises.
Prof. Adibul Hasan Rizvi, director of SIUT, told participants of a seminar that more than one million people died every year all over the world due to different complications of the hepatitis B&C.
Similarly, millions and millions of patients were suffering from hepatitis, which had emerged as a major global health problem and needed urgent prevention and control, he said.
Meanwhile, people visiting the SIUT were tested for hepatitis B and C while ultrasound of liver and spleen was done in all the cases.
Free vaccination for hepatitis B was also offered to the visitors with advice for the second dose after one month.
Some experts at the Aga Khan University said a hepatitis epidemic had engulfed the country with nearly 12 million people suffering from hepatitis B and C, and there was an urgent need to understand and confront this growing threat. They were speaking at a seminar at the Aga Khan University in observance of the World Hepatitis Day.
This is the first time that the World Hepatitis Day is being sponsored globally by the World Health Organization following the passing of the resolution on Viral Hepatitis at the 63rd World Health Assembly in May 2010 which recognized the importance of taking a multi-pronged global initiative against hepatitis.
The initiative includes increasing awareness, improving prevention in terms of better injection and blood safety, providing timely diagnosis and making treatment cost-effective and affordable.
Dr Wasim Jafri, consultant gastroentologist at the AKUH, said both hepatitis B and C could be transmitted through the use of tainted blood or blood products, the use of contaminated syringes during medical procedures or injection drug use.
A major reason for the spread of hepatitis B and C had been the careless attitude of healthcare professionals in not ensuring the use of sterilized syringes and untainted blood, added Dr Jafri.
Dr Rustam Khan, also a consultant gastroenterologist at the AKUH, said that hepatitis A and E were prevalent predominantly in the developing countries and they spread through contaminated food or water, adding that in Pakistan most of the hepatitis A and E cases occurred during the summer and monsoon seasons.
Fortunately these infections subsided after a few weeks except in the case of acute hepatitis E among expectant mothers which could sometimes lead to some serious and fatal consequences.
Dr Saeed Hamid, also of the AKUH, said prevention through immunization was the preferable course of action when dealing with hepatitis.
Both hepatitis A and B vaccines were easily available and were more than satisfactory in protecting against infection, but were generally underutilized, lamented Dr Hamid.
This in a developing country like Pakistan was due to a lack of awareness and a belief in the curative powers of alternative therapies such as traditional and herbal cures.
Discounting these, Dr Hamid stressed that treatment was available for both hepatitis B and C in the form of interferon injections as well as oral medications which could be extremely effective, provided that treatment begun as early as possible.
Dr Erum Khan, a consultant microbiologist at the AKU, while emphasizing the role of the laboratory in diagnosing and managing viral hepatitis, said a number of tests like liver function tests, good sensitivity serological tests and advanced technology tests like polymerase chain reaction were essential in diagnosing the disease as well as monitoring the response to treatment.
Unfortunately, the availability of these tests outside large urban centers was a concern, as many people didn’t have the resources to travel to the larger cities to get tested, she added.The news.
