August 12, 2013

Hepatitis almost as lethal as HIV despite lack of awareness

Provided by The DePaulia (The student newspaper of DePaul University)

2059233672

Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation

According to data from the Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington viral hepatitis killed more people than HIV in 117 of 187 countries around the world.

By Amy Morton

Published: Monday, August 12, 2013 Updated: Monday, August 12, 2013 11:08

Some people might associate hepatitis with the painful hepatitis A and B shots they once received. Others might recognize the name from a documentary about infectious disease. The reality of the situation is that hepatitis was responsible for 1.445 million deaths in 2010. That number is a close second to the 1.465 deaths caused by HIV/AIDS.

The Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation tracked the death rates of both diseases in 187 countries. Out of these 187 countries, 117 of them had more deaths caused by hepatitis. Some of these countries include Mongolia, Yemen, Iraq, Poland and even the United States.

Although these death rates are high, the disease still seems to be ignored by many governments and health organizations—unlike its HIV/AIDS relative. The World Health Organization (WHO) has created a World Hepatitis Day in hopes of “strengthening prevention, screening and control of viral hepatitis and its related diseases” as well as “coordinating a global response to viral hepatitis.”

WHO believes that hepatitis has become a “silent epidemic” due to the lack of symptoms one experiences with the disease. Often times, symptoms do not arise until the patient develops chronic liver cancer.

In addition, liver cancer is extremely expensive to treat and typically requires a liver transplant. This operation is costly to the patients as well as the hospitals. All five types of hepatitis can lead to chronic liver cancer and the expenses that go along with it. Types B, C and D are transmitted through blood, intercourse and can be passed down to a child during birth. Types A and E are transmitted through contaminated food and water.

Lack of medical attention to viral hepatitis has caused over 1 million deaths in the Asian Pacific. It is estimated that 15-17 percent of all citizens in Vietnam alone carry the illness. Dr. Robert Gish, the co-founder of the Coalition to Eradicate Viral Hepatitis in Asia Pacific (CEVHAP), made a statement that Vietnam is in desperate need of “a policy for liver health.” CEVHAP’s mission is to create a set of public policies that will decrease the presence of viral hepatitis in the Asia Pacific region, and they urge citizens to take action.

However, it is important to remember that the threat of hepatitis does not only exist overseas. Recently, the state Department of Health and Human Services reported a case of Hepatitis A in Contoocook, N.H. The man who had the disease was a bartender, and it is estimated that 600-1000 people could have been exposed before this man discovered he had this illness. However, since the bartender was not touching raw food, it is unlikely that very many people will be affected. The incident was ruled a “low-risk situation” by Public Health Director Jose Montero.

Whether it is hepatitis in the United States or the Asia Pacific region, experts can all agree this is a serious issue. Like many other health organizations, Gish believes that the best solution is to educate the general public and to “have the right policy in place.”

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