GUWAHATI, July 27 - On the eve of the World Hepatitis Day (WHD), doctors in Guwahati renewed their pledge to fight Hepatitis, which accounts for nearly 2,50,000 deaths in India every year. Approximately one in 12 persons worldwide or some 500 million people are living with chronic viral hepatitis. Around 70-80 per cent of people with acute Hepatitis C do not even have any symptoms.
As the symptoms often go unnoticed, the disease is also known as the �silent killer.� Viral Hepatitis is responsible for 1.5 million deaths worldwide each year, as many as those caused by HIV/AIDS. It is the leading cause of liver cancer, which is the second biggest killer cancer globally.
Observing this at a press conference on the eve of World Hepatitis Day today, DR Arvind Kelkar, Dr Kamal Chetri and Dr Mukesh Agarwala of the Department of Gastroenterology, International Hospital here, stressed the need for greater awareness and prevention, besides encouraging communities and governments around the world to work together against the �silent killer.�
�The disease is mainly spread by eating infected food or water, unprotected sex with a person who has the disease, or through direct contact with infected blood or fluids by usage of infected needles or sharing of razors or other shaving devices,� they said.
The World Hepatitis Day is observed on July 28 every year. The day was launched by the World Hepatitis Alliance in 2008 in response to the concern that chronic viral hepatitis did not have the level of awareness, nor the political momentum seen with other communicable diseases such as HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis (TB) and malaria.
Pointing out that Hepatitis is a silent killer as it rarely presents symptoms until very late, the doctors said that studies reported from various parts of India estimate that about 20 million Indians are Hepatitis B carriers and about 12 million may have silent Hepatitis C virus infection. Hepatitis is an inflammation of the liver, most commonly caused by a viral infection. There are five main hepatitis viruses referred to as types A, B, C, D and E.
