"State's prevalence rate of HCV among HRP and others may get heightened if Govt continues to pay no heed"
Source: The Sangai Express
Imphal, July 20 2018:
Although a study made by Community Network For Empowerment (CoNE) has alarmingly put the rate of Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) antibody positivity percentage at 52 per cent among the High Risk Population (HRP) of the State, the State has no concrete policy to deal with the problem.
The State does not even have any official surveillance system to authenticate accurate data for detecting the number of people screened for the viral infection or detected antibody positivity and as such one has to rely on the data produced by NGOs or independent researchers.
It may be mentioned that in 2016, 194 countries, including India, have committed to eliminating viral hepatitis (Hepatitis B and Hepatitis C) as a public health threat by 2030 .
In doing so, the countries have committed to diagnosing 90 per cent of people living with viral hepatitis by 2030 and 30 per cent of people by 2020 .
Till date, only 11 percent of people living with viral hepatitis globally are aware of their condition, according to WHO.
According to WHO, out of 325 million people living with viral hepatitis globally, upward of 290 million (9 in 10 people) are living with Hepatitis B or C unknowingly.
It also opined that unless there is a massive scale-up in screening, diagnosis and linkage to care, more people will become infected and lives will continue to be lost.
CoNE has initiated screening of Hepatitis C since three years back with limited resource although it receives funding from an international project since this year.
However, it is not feasible to screen mass number of the populace by the NGO alone.
As such, it is intangible that the State Govt consider the matter seriously as it does not even have an official screening system to authenticate accurate data for detecting the number of people screened for the viral infection or detected antibody positivity.
In a State like Manipur which is highly prone to drug and sex works and has high number of HRP, experts and those who work in this field are of the opinion that at least lakhs of people may need screening for HCV antibody, diagnosis and linkage to minimize prevalence of HCV infection as well as to cater treatment to those who have already been affected.
CoNE convenor RK Nalinikanta while talking to The Sangai Express, has expressed strong apprehension that the State's prevalence rate of HCV among HRP and others may get heightened if the Government continues to pay no heed to the alarming trend.
He informed that CoNE has reached out awareness programme of HCV to 3815 people till June this year apart from screening HCV antibody to 3276 people out of which 1727 have been found antibody positive.
The number of HCV RNA tested people till June by the NGO is 962, out of which 907 were confirmed.
The number of people enrolled for HCV treatment is 471 and those who initiated HCV treatment is 414 .
It is also found that the NGO has Sustained Virologic Response (SVR) through the help of NGO was 135.Conveying that the treatment for HCV has gone down to just around Rs 35,000 to 40, 000 per individual since 2015 although the treatment cost and expense was around Rs 4 to 5 lakh per individual before the said year in Manipur, he lamented that the State Govt has not taken up any initiative in connection with the treatment of HCV infected populace.
He.
further said it is not feasible for CoNE to cater screening, treatment and other related services with HCV to mass number of populace, particularly to the HRP groups.
As such, it is unlikely that the commitment of Central and the State Government to eliminating viral hepatitis as a public health threat by 2030, Nalinikanta said while adding that a serious consideration of the matter and a firm commitment simultaneously with action is required from the State Govt.
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