World Hepatitis Day:: Manipur responds to the global call positively
Source: Hueiyen News Service

Imphal, July 28 2013: As in other parts of the globe, various organizations in Manipur joined the global effort to increase awareness and understanding of the viral Hepatitis and the deceases it causes on the occasion of World Hepatitis Day today.

MNP+, SASO and Care Foundation jointly observed the day at the conference hall of MNP+ at Yaiskul Hiruhanba Leirak under the theme "This is Hepatitis.

Know it.

Confront it & See No Evil, Hear No Evil and Speak No Evil" .

The observance function was attended by Abhiram Mongjam, Joint Director (TI) of MACS; Dr H Diamond, Nodal Officer of ART Centre, District Hospital, Ukhrul and Sister Pauline of Carmel Jyoti as presidium members.

Speaking on the occasion, Abhiram Mongjam stated that according to reports, over 5 billion people are infected with Hepatitis virus.

As such we need to be aware of what the virus is actually, how can we protect and prevent ourselves from the virus.

Hepatitis can only be cured only if we are aware that we are infected by it and therefore it is very necessary to spread awareness in this regard.

Two paramedical staffs helping each other during a free Health Camp

He further stated that a large number of Hepatitis cases have been found in Churanchandpur district.

There is an urgent need to control the spread of this disease.

For this, workshops at the State level needs to be conducted to provide awareness right from the grassroots level.

Earlier, giving the keynote address, L Deepak, President of MNP+, observed that millions of people are living with viral Hepatitis and millions more are at risk of becoming infected.

Although the burden of disease related to Hepatitis is very high, in most countries, the problem has not been addressed in a comprehensive way for many reasons.

This includes the fact that most people do not develop any symptom when they become infected and they remain free of symptoms often for decades until they develop chronic liver disease.

This has largely resulted in "the silent epidemic" we are experiencing today.

He further pointed out that patients living with Hepatitis-C lack access to affordable and appropriate treatment and care.

This is because of the fact that the treatment of Hep-C is very costly and the reason for the high cost is that the medicines needed for its treatment was patented in 2007 by a multinational pharmaceutical company which now enjoys complete monopoly in the market.

There is no government funded treatment and as such the patient must pay the high price or die.

The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare must pay attention to the looming crisis.

Training health care providers, establishing national treatment guidelines, introducing hepatitis medication in its essential medicine list and using flexibilities contained in the Patent Act, 2005, are among the few steps that the Health Ministry must take up until a comprehensive national programme for prevention, control and treatment of viral hepatitis is launched, he suggested.

Our Kakching correspondent adds: At Kakching Khunyai Leikai, World Hepatitis Day 2013 was observed under the aegis of Empowering Community Organisation (ECO), a community based organisation of people who use drugs.

Speaking on the importance of the observance, M.Gandhar, President and founding member of ECO, said that today viral Hepatitis has become the one of the serious threats in global public health scenario with a very little response and awareness from the governments and public.

The magnitude of the epidemic is so vast that an estimated 500 million people are living with Hep-B and Hep-C in world today.

Hep-C alone kills about 1 lakh every year in India due to unable to afford the treatment.

Since Hep-C is a blood borne disease, the prevalence rate of Hep-C amongst the injecting drug users is very high in Manipur.

This is a matter of serious concern, he added.

Jivan Hospital, Kakching also organized a free Health Camp on Hepatitis B and C to mark the World Hepatitis Day observance today.