Bhutan becomes one of the four countries to achieve Hepatitis B control in the WHO South-East Asia Region. World Health Organization announced this on Friday following a finding that showed the prevalence of the deadly disease being dropped to less than one per cent among five-year-old children.
The other countries are Bangladesh, Nepal and Thailand. Viral hepatitis is a group of infectious diseases that attacks the liver in humans.
WHO recommended verification of Bhutan, Bangladesh, Nepal and Thailand upon reviewing childhood immunization data. It showed consistent 90 per cent coverage with Hepatitis B vaccine doses provided during infancy for past many years. A news release from WHO says studies conducted among five-year-old children in the four countries confirmed high immunization rates and that prevalence of Hepatitis B in these countries among children was less than one per cent.
It is found that preventing Hepatitis B infection in infancy substantially reduces chronic infections and cases of liver cancer in adulthood.
Marking the world hepatitis day on the theme invest in eliminating hepatitis, health minister called for greater commitments from policymakers to invest in prevention and control of hepatitis and for people to come forward to access hepatitis prevention, testing and treatment services.
Of the five types of viral hepatitis A-E, viral hepatitis B and C are found to be the major root cause of liver cancer. Deaths caused by hepatitis B and C are found to be much higher than that of HIV and tuberculosis both in the South-East Asia region and globally. This the health minister says calls for adequate awareness among the masses.
On an average 936 hepatitis B cases were reported from 2013 to 2015 in Bhutan. Hepatitis B infection is caused by the hepatitis B virus which is passed from person to person through blood, semen and other body fluids.
To prevent and control viral hepatitis, the health ministry has developed a National Strategic Plan 2021 to 2023 and treatment and management guidelines. The strategic plan is expected to enable the health workers to take appropriate actions to prevent and control viral hepatitis in keeping with the goal of eliminating hepatitis by 2030.
