{"id":28943,"date":"2016-07-28T10:21:30","date_gmt":"2016-07-28T08:21:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.times.mw\/?p=28943"},"modified":"2016-07-28T10:23:47","modified_gmt":"2016-07-28T08:23:47","slug":"time-to-arrest-hepatitis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/2016\/07\/28\/time-to-arrest-hepatitis\/","title":{"rendered":"Time to arrest hepatitis"},"content":{"rendered":"

Today, Malawi joins the rest of the world in commemorating World Hepatitis Day. Even though hepatitis is a major public health problem, many countries, including Malawi, have not had a chance to have routine testing and treatment for the disease. JOSEPHINE CHINELE explores more on the issue\u2026 <\/strong><\/p>\n

It was a very long day for Robert Salama, who was shocked at learning that he had hepatitis.<\/p>\n

This was a strange disease he had never heard before and he wondered how this could be as he had been donating blood in the previous months.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought I had saved many lives of people whom I\u2019m not related to. It was time to save my very sick relation who was in urgent need of blood at Mzuzu Central Hospital. This was devastating news to me because I wasn\u2019t even ill,\u201d he recalls.<\/p>\n

The only thing he felt this time was flue like symptoms, which he suspects appeared immediately after he visited a dental clinic.<\/p>\n

Salama explains: \u201cAfter I was told, I began to recall some illnesses I had had and this came to my mind. Normally, the symptoms go after a week or two, so I continued living my normal life.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I visited another reputable private hospital for further tests, I was advised to take no medication as my problem was not so critical. I kept going for biannual check-up but now I go once in a year. I was also advised to stop taking alcohol, a thing which I did without hesitation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Salama is one of few people worldwide who have this disease and are aware of it.<\/p>\n

According to World Health Organisation (WHO), only one in 20 people with viral hepatitis know that they have it and only one in 100 with the disease is being treated.<\/p>\n

WHO says viral hepatitis is an infection of the liver caused by five distinct hepatitis viruses (A, B, C, D, and E). It says this is a highly widespread public health problem in the African region, similar to other major communicable diseases, including HIV, tuberculosis and malaria.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll five hepatitis viruses can cause severe disease, but the highest numbers of deaths result from liver cancer and cirrhosis \u2013 a condition in which there is irreversible scarring of the liver. This occurs after several years of chronic hepatitis B or C infection. In the African region, hepatitis B affects an estimated 100 million people. It is also estimated that 19 million adults in the region are chronically infected with hepatitis C. However, most people with chronic viral hepatitis are not aware of their infection and do not receive appropriate treatment,\u201d says WHO Regional Director for Africa, Dr Matshindo Moeti, in his message on the commemoration of World Hepatitis Day.<\/p>\n

He urges all member states in the African region to use today\u2019s campaign as a vital opportunity to step up national efforts on hepatitis and to spur action to implement the strategy on viral hepatitis.<\/p>\n

President of Save Your Liver Foundation, Ellos Lodzeni, says, currently, there is no data on hepatitis in Malawi but from the little awareness that has been done, his organisation has received some reports from the people who were diagnosed with it in Nkhotakota, Kasungu and Phalombe.<\/p>\n

\u201cDespite this drawback, the disease is a major public health problem. The numbers are so big for other African countries and Malawi cannot be spared,\u201d he notes.<\/p>\n

Lodzeni also observes that Malawi\u2019s greatest challenge is the fact that there is no routine testing and treatment unless someone becomes very sick.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven pregnant women are supposed to be screened but this is not done. We are advocating national programme for screening and treatment. According to the information we have, people are only screened at central hospitals as the last diagnosis option after the health workers don\u2019t seem to find any other disease in them,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

WHO says hepatitis A virus is transmitted primarily by the faecal-oral route; that is when an uninfected person ingests food or water that has been contaminated with the faeces of an infected person. In families, this may happen though dirty hands when an infected person prepares food for family members. Waterborne outbreaks, though infrequent, are usually associated with sewage-contaminated or inadequately treated water.<\/p>\n

The virus can also be transmitted through close physical contact with an infectious person although casual contact among people does not spread the virus.<\/p>\n

Malawi joins the rest of the world in observing the hepatitis day under the theme: \u201cKnow hepatitis. Act now.\u201d<\/p>\n

The theme calls on countries and people to become informed about the risks of hepatitis infection, get tested and advocate increased access to treatment and care.<\/p>\n

World leaders have committed to taking specific action to combat hepatitis under the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. At the World Health Assembly in May 2016 (WHO\u2019s decision making body), countries across the globe agreed to implement the first Global Health Sector Strategy on viral hepatitis for 2016\u20132021.<\/p>\n

The strategy aims at stopping viral hepatitis transmission, strengthening public awareness and prevention as well as ensuring that everyone living with viral hepatitis has access to safe, affordable and effective care and treatment services.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need to act now to stop people from dying needlessly from hepatitis,\u201d said Dr Gottfried Hirnschall, WHO\u2019s Director of the HIV\/Aids Department and Global Hepatitis Programme.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis requires a rapid acceleration of access to services and medicines for all people in need.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some countries, however, are finding ways to get services to the people who need them. These efforts are made easier by the declining price of hepatitis C medicines. Prices are now dropping, particularly in countries that have access to generic drugs. In 2015, a preliminary analysis estimated that 300 000 people living in low- and middle-income countries had received hepatitis C treatment based on the new direct-acting antiviral.<\/p>\n

WHO says hepatitis B and C infections are transmitted through contaminated blood as well as through contaminated needles and syringes in healthcare setting and among people who inject drugs. The viruses can also be transmitted through unsafe sex and from an infected mother to her newborn child.<\/p>\n

It is recommended that implementing blood safety strategies, including quality-assured screening of all donated blood and blood components used for transfusion can help prevent transmission of hepatitis B and C. Safe injection practices, eliminating unnecessary and unsafe injections, can be effective strategies to protect against transmission. Harm reduction services for people who inject drugs are critical to reduce hepatitis in this population. Safer sex practices, including minimising the number of partners and using barrier protective measures (condoms) also protect against transmission.<\/p>\n

If proper diagnosis were not done on Salama before he donated blood, he would easily transmit the disease to his relation.<\/p>\n

Malawi Ministry of Health (MoH) has just incorporated hepatitis into its HIV and Aids Department. This has all along been regarded as a disease which health workers are prone to and they have been receiving vaccinations against it. It will now be regarded as one of the communicable diseases public health priority areas.<\/p>\n

Deputy Director of Department for HIV and Aids in MoH, Dr Thokozani Kalua, says hepatitis is a serious disease which leads to liver cancer (Hepatecellular caecinoma).<\/p>\n

He admits that, at present, screening and diagnostic capacity is weak and it is not well coordinated.<\/p>\n

\u201cTesting for screening is available in most secondary level facilities. However, reagents are not consistently available. Testing for confirmation of diagnosis is only available at one facility,\u201d Kalua says, adding that the ministry is looking at how it can integrate the hepatitis response with other programmes.<\/p>\n

Kalua also highlighted that antiretroviral drugs (ARVs) are also used to treat hepatitis B virus infection, saying: \u201cHowever, the policy now only allows ARVs to be used in people living with HIV. Treatment for hepatitis C is not available at all in Malawi and is costly.\u201d<\/p>\n

In 2010, WHO made World Hepatitis Day one of only four official disease-specific world health days, to be celebrated each year on the July 28. Millions of people across the world now take part in the hepatitis day, to raise awareness about viral hepatitis and to call for access to treatment, better prevention programmes and government action.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Today, Malawi joins the rest of the world in commemorating World Hepatitis Day. Even though hepatitis is a major public health problem, many countries, including Malawi, have not had a chance to have routine testing and treatment for the disease. JOSEPHINE CHINELE explores more on the issue\u2026 It was a very long day for Robert […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":28952,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-28943","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28943","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28943"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28943\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28953,"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28943\/revisions\/28953"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28952"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28943"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28943"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28943"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}