Media coverage of HCV low
Source: The Sangai Express
Imphal, October 03 2019:
Even though media has started playing a major role in spreading awareness about viral hepatitis all over the world, the role played by the media in the State on the issue remains at an all time low.
In a State where almost 43 percent of the Injecting Drug Users/IDUs (excluding the general population) and their spouses are affected with HCV, the number of reports published by the local media concerning viral hepatitis is extremely low and only a few local dailies have carried such news or reports with dedication.
It may be mentioned that out of a total of around 325 million people infected with the disease all over the world, almost 290 million do not know that they are infected with viral hepatitis at all.
In other words, 9 out of 10 infected people are ignorant of their status.
As HCV has a knack of infecting an individual, laying dormant for a long time and only striking when the individual becomes extremely ill, the disease can be diagnosed only through laboratory tests in the early stages (as any kind of symptoms are usually impossible to detect).
This is the reason why HCV is even called the 'Silent Killer' or the 'Silent Epidemic'.
Ever since last year, World Health Alliance (WHA), a global NGO, even started an annual global campaign called 'Find the missing million' with the aim of screening and identifying the people who are infected with the disease but are yet to know for themselves.
As per an estimate of WHO, a total of 1.34 million people died due to HCV in 2015, which is more than the number of people killed by HIV (1.1 million), Tuberculosis (1.4 million) and Malaria (438,000).It is estimated that around 1 million people die every year all over the world due to HCV and in light of this threat, 194 countries have a taken a leaf out of the WHO elimination strategy with the aim of diagnosing 30 percent of HCV infected people by 2020 and almost 90 percent by the year 2030.In the case of Manipur, a survey conducted by CoNE in 2015 mentioned that 43 percent of the IDUs and their spouses are infected with the disease.
A survey conducted by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment (MoSJE) this year showed that the number of IDU had increased by around 34,000 in the State and as such, organisations working in the field of drug use and experts are estimating that the number of IDUs infected with HCV must also have shot up.
However, lack of awareness as well as rampant misinformation, have led to people looking down upon and stigmatising others infected with the disease.
This has also led to people not coming forward to get themselves tested for HCV.
It may be mentioned that free diagnosis and treatment for hepatitis are conducted all over the country under National Viral Hepatitis Programme (NVHCP) with to rid the disease by the year 2030.Under this mission, Model Treatment Centres (MTC) were opened each at RIMS and JNIMS in the State.
But till date, the people who come to the MTCs remain low, the main reason being lack of awareness of the programme and HCV.
In such situation, many are opining that the role of the media is immense to make the people aware of and understand viral hepatitis and NVHCP.