has impeded the development and delivery of core services that tackle viral hepatitis and other infectious and non-communicable diseases .”
In 2016 , the WHO launched a roadmap for the elimination of viral hepatitis as a public health problem . �y its own definition , that meant a 90 percent reduction in incidence and a 65 percent reduction in mortality compared to a 2015 baseline .
This represented a reduction of new cases from 6-10 million worldwide to fewer than one million by the target date of 2030 and of deaths from 1.4 million to fewer than 500,000 a year .
The WHO ’ s fivefold strategy , with the near universal backing of national public health departments worldwide , involved gathering strategic information to understand the viral hepatitis epidemic , identifying infection hotspots , and understanding modes of transmission , especially among risk populations . Its approach also required national plans with appropriate management to ensure they were embedded in health systems .
It recommended community health services be strengthened to deliver high-quality and inclusive services , ensuring that those living with hepatitis and at-risk populations had access to medical care . This element needed to be particularly sensitive in countries where drug use , a primary cause of hepatitis , was seen as a problem to be punished rather than treated .
�ecause of the cost of screening and treatment , the strategy needed to be underpinned by sustainable financial planning by improving domestic tax collection and pooling funds across healthcare systems .
Finally , the WHO called for the incentivisation of innovations that could drive progress , including new antiviral medicines and improved diagnostic techniques .
Partly as a result of this roadmap , in the WHO ’ s Southeast Asia region , which also includes India , Nepal , and �angladesh , the UN agency has been able to make meaningful progress despite the high prevalence of viral hepatitis in an area with 39 million people living with hepatitis � and a further 10 million with hepatitis C , according to the World Hepatitis Alliance . Moreover , half of intravenous drug users in the region have hepatitis C .
Despite these challenges , Southeast Asia has achieved �significant advances� in hepatitis prevention , said Dr Poonam �hetrapal Singh , the WHO ’ s regional director , in a communiqu� to mark World Hepatitis Day on �uly 2� .
She said that all 11 of the region ’ s countries had already achieved coverage of more than 90 percent of the third dose of hepatitis � vaccine . The WHO recommends that all infants receive the hepatitis � vaccine as soon as possible after birth , preferably within 24 hours , followed by two or three doses of hepatitis � vaccine at least four weeks apart . Protection lasts at least 20 years and is probably lifelong .
�Today ’ s commemoration highlights the urgent need to scale up the response and to embed hepatitis prevention , testing , and treatment into the overall quest to achieve universal healthcare , � said Dr Singh .
The WHO called for the incentivisation of innovations that could drive progress , including new antiviral medicines and improved diagnostic techniques .
Malaysia is on the path to hepatitis elimination
GlobalHealthAndTravel . com AUGUST 2021
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