Schoolkids roped in to drive state’s fight against hepatitis
Times of India | 29 July 2024
Kolkata: The state govt has roped in school students to be the torch bearers of its campaign to nip out viral hepatitis by 2030.On Saturday on the eve of World Hepatitis Day, students across all govt and govt-aided schools pledged their commitment to hepatitis elimination.
“School students can play the role of influencers in their respective family.They can take up various steps to prevent themselves from contracting viral hepatitis. The health department and the school education department took this initiative to infuse momentum into the viral hepatitis elimination programme,” said public health specialist, Pallav Bhattacharya, who is also the state programme officer for viral hepatitis.
Viral hepatitis is inflammation of the liver. The prevalence of hepatitis B in West Bengal is 1.26% against national average of 0.95% and that of hepatitis C is 0.16% against national average of 0.23%. Health officials, however, said this prevalence rate could be only a tip of the iceberg as in most cases the infection remains silent and symptomless in the beginning. Hepatitis B and C are responsible for around 96% of hepatitis mortality.
While the exact burden of hepatitis A and E is yet to be established nationally as well as in state due to lack of data, hepatitis A is responsible for 5% to 10% of acute liver failure and hepatitis E is responsible for 15% to 45% of acute liver failure. Both A and E are water and food-borne.
Earlier, the Bengal govt had taken up initiatives like screening of pregnant women for hepatitis B, making viral hepatitis a notifiable disease etc. The state currently has 36 treatment centres for viral hepatitis. IPGMER houses the apex centre, catering to over 3,200 hepatitis B and over 2,100 hepatitis C patients. On Sunday, various hospitals and also organizations like the Liver Foundation West Bengal organized awareness events.