WHO Report: India Is Among The Nations With Highest Burden Of Viral Hepatitis

The recent Global Hepatitis Report 2024, released by WHO indicated that India is one of the countries with the highest burden of viral hepatitis. The report also states that 2.9 crore Indians are living with Hepatitis B infection and 0.55 crore are living with a Hepatitis C infection. These infections have claimed 1.23 lakh lives in India in 2022.

In 2022, there were over 50,00 new cases of Hepatitis B and 1.4 lakh new Hepatitis C cases reported across the country. Both kinds of infections are transmitted thorugh similar modes, like, mother to child during delivery, blood transfusion (if the blood wasn’t screened properly), coming in contact with blood of an infected person or while sharing needles by drug users. While Hepatitis B can be prevented with vaccinations, Hepatitis C can be treated with medications.

To reduce the burden of Hepatitis B in India, experts believe that there is a need to ensure that newborns receive complete vaccination and adults who were born before the vaccination was introduced should also be included in the program. Viral hepatitis is an infection that affects the liver and causes liver inflammation, damage and in severe cases might lead to liver cancer. Hepatitis B is known to cause acute infection with nausea, vomiting and yellowing of the eyes and skin for several weeks. Severe cases might lead to liver failure. The chronic ones could lead to life-long liver disease in children leading to scarring of the liver and increase chances of liver cancer. Medications can slow the progress of the virus in chronic cases.

On the other hand, people infected with Hepatitis C virus don’t show any symptoms for two to 12 weeks after exposure. Gradually they show signs of yellow skin or eyes, loss of appetite, nausea, stomach ache, fever, joint pains, dark coloured urine and exhaustion. Globally, hepatitis remains the second largest killer claiming as many lives as tuberculosis with nearly 1.3 million deaths every year. The need to create awareness and educate the massed on the same should be a priority for the government now!