HCV in State: Prevalence rate high, treatment low
Source: The Sangai Express

Imphal, April 20 2019: Whereas Manipur is included among other States in the country where the prevalence rate of Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) is estimated to be high, the number of infected persons who have been treated or receiving treatment for the deadly disease in Manipur is estimated to be quite low.

Unfortunately, there is little or no room for the maximum numbers of Injecting Drug Users (IDUs) and poor populace to access treatment facilities for Hep C as the treatment charge is expensive while the implementation work of the first phase of National Viral Hepatitis Control Programme is very dawdling.

Even though the National Viral Hepatitis Control Programme was launched in July 2018 under National Health Mission in the country, the same programme is yet to be rolled out in the State till today.

With the prevalence rate of Hepatitis-C (HCV), among people who use drugs (PUD) in particular and the public in general, increasing at an alarming rate thereby indicating a high disease burden of HCV in the State, the need for a State Authenticated Data on HCV to exactly bring out the present scenario of HCV in the State is also increasing.

In Manipur and India, there is not a single official surveillance data for HCV infection till date.

People only rely on the independent surveillance reports and studies conducted by NGOs and individuals/ researchers.

According to the World Hepatitis Alliance (WHA), an international NGO best known for its role in advocating and raising awareness on elimination of viral Hepatitis, more than 290 million men, women and children across the globe are living with viral Hepatitis without actually knowing.

Experts opined that more people will become infected and lives will continue to be lost unless there is a massive scale-up in screening, diagnosis and linkage to care.

According to WHO, approximately 399,000 people die each year from Hepatitis C.Based on the surveillance report of Community Network for Empowerment (CoNE) of 2018, it is estimated that 49 percent among the IDUs have been infected by Hepatitis C in the State.

The latest survey done by Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment (MSJE) estimated that there are more than 34,000 IDUs in the State.

As the treatment of Hepatitis C requires Rs 30,000 to Rs 50,000, most IDUs and poor general populace infected with Hepatitis C are not able to undergo necessary treatment for the chronic disease.

YRG CARE and the State Government have been implementing "Project HEADStart", a viral Hepatitis C free treatment project in the State by opening two centres at Checkon and Churachandpur with MNP+, SASO, Care Foundation, JNIMS, RIMS as the consortium members.

However, the project has limited slot/target of 2500 numbers within the time period of 2020 .

It is impossible to diagnose and provide free treatment to a larger number of HCV infected persons even though the centres have been performing at their best level as of now.

As such, rolling out the National Viral Hepatitis Control Programme which provides free testing and treatment facilities for Hepatitis B and C is the need of the hour to minimize the growing threat of viral Hepatitis, particularly HCV in the State.

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