Provided by Zawya
Doha - May 15, 2013
About 150 million people are chronically infected and at risk of developing liver cirrhosis and/or liver cancer, and more than 350 000 people die from Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) related liver diseases every year, Dr. Laith Abu-Raddad said last night at a community health forum in Doha.
Dr. Abu-Raddad was addressing the monthly Medicine & U health outreach program at Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar -Q in Education City.
"HCV currently affects about two per cent of the world's population, we will focus our attention on Egypt tonight, which has the highest HCV prevalence in the world with about 15 per cent of its population infected with the virus," Dr. Abu Raddad said.
Hepatitis C virus is a major cause of liver disease and liver cancer. It is usually spread through the sharing of infected needles, receiving infected blood and other exposures to blood or bodily fluids. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that every year, 3-4 million people are newly infected with HCV.
"The current situation in Egypt was ironically started as a consequence of health care campaigns conducted from the 1950s to the early 1980s against schistosomiasis (known commonly as bilharzia). Addressing Hepatitis C is one of the largest health challenges faced by this country today, and has strained its resources by dealing with a large pool of about six million chronically infected people." Dr. Abu-Raddad said.
In his presentation, Dr. Abu-Raddad described how the HCV epidemic has emerged including the contextual factors surrounding its emergence. Causes of current new infections and the latest advances in scientific research on this epidemic were highlighted and the talk included a discussion of the key priorities in relation to prevention programs and scientific research.
Dr. Abu-Raddad is Associate Professor of Public Health, Principal Investigator of the Infectious Disease Epidemiology Group, and the Director of the Biostatistics, Epidemiology and Biomathematics Research Core at WCMC-Q's.
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About Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar
Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar is a partnership between Cornell University and Qatar Foundation. It offers pre-medical and medical courses leading to the Cornell University MD degree with teaching by Cornell and Weill Cornell faculty and by physicians at Hamad Medical Corporation and Aspetar Orthopedic and Sports Medicine Hospital who hold Weill Cornell appointments. Through its biomedical research program, WCMC-Q is building a sustainable research community in Qatar while advancing basic science and clinical research. Through its medical college, WCMC-Q seeks to provide the finest education possible for medical students, to improve health care both now and for future generations, and to provide highest quality of health care to the Qatari population.
For more info, please contact:
Hanan Lakkis
Media Relations Manager
Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar
Mobile: +974 55536564
Direct Line: +974 4492866
hyl2004@qatar-med.cornell.edu
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