Need for authenticated data on Hep C stressed
Source: The Sangai Express

Imphal, April 28 2018: 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 has been stressed.

A decision to this effect was arrived at during a day-long State level consultation on HCV screening amongst PUD and their spouses in nine districts of Manipur organised under the aegis of Community Network for Empowerment (CoNE) at The Classic Hotel today.

The consultation meet was organized with the support of Coalition PLUS.

The meeting agreed to initiate steps to take the approval of the Institutional Review Board of RMS to validate the data collected by CoNE in the HCV screening programmes so that it can be used as State Authenticated Data.

Need for authenticated data on Hep C stressed

The meet attended by representatives from the Directorate of Health; Regional Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS), Jawaharlal Nehru Institute of Medical Sciences (JNIMS), BABINA Diagnostics and other NGOs concerned also took a number of resolutions which include screening camps on HCV among PUDs and their spouses by CoNE will be conducted after obtaining approval of ethical clearance from the Institutional Review Board of RIMS; Directorate of Health to provide necessary help in the screening process and in the analyzing of data; BABINA Diagnostics to provide necessary technical support; MACS Partner NGOs Forum will provide support in mobilizing the targeted intervention (TI) partner NGOs of MACS in the screening camps as and when needed.

Although official Viral Hepatitis C data from the Government is not available, data from independent studies that has been carried out by researchers and medical professionals shows an extensively alarming prevalence of HCV in the State particularly amongst PUDs.

However, the protocol of the said screening camps was not applied for ethical clearance due to the nonappearance of State Ethical Committee and hence the findings of the HCV screening camps cannot be claimed as a state authentic HCV data.

Describing the objective of the meet, CoNE president RK Nalinikanta said that the current sentinel surveillance system conducted among high risk groups does not cover HCV infection.

Since the State does not have a surveillance system for Hepatitis C and the burden of the disease is unknown even though the graveness of the situation is documented through data and information from independent studies, the need for organising such screening camps is essential as it would provide a gateway for treatment accessibility to the community who are being infected knowingly or unknowingly.