WHO warns Pacific of hepatitis risk
Five Pacific nations are among nine countries being warned by the World Health Organisation they won't be able to reduce the hepatitis B infection rate in children to less than 2 per cent by next year.
Solomon Islands, Kiribati, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, and Vanuatu have received the warning, with low vaccination coverage largely being blamed.
Direct policy interventions towards treatment of Hepatitis B needed in Ghana
A Clinical Pharmacist at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, Stephen Corquaye has called for the design of policy interventions to aid the treatment of Hepatitis B in Ghana.
Ghana is said to have a Hepatitis B prevalence rate of between 8 and 15 percent, thus placing the country in the bracket of Hepatitis B endemic countries as per the World Health Organization’s [WHO] classification.
Countries that have a Hepatitis B prevalence rate of above 8 percent, according to the WHO, are considered endemic.
India emerging as the global Hepatitis capital
India is all set to emerge as the global capital of the dreaded Hepatitis B Virus (HBV), according to a team of doctors from MIOT Hospital in Chennai. “Forty two million Indians suffer from chronic Hepatitis B infection. The Hepatitis B Virus is responsible for 60% of liver cancer cases in India,” said Dr Arul Prakash, leading gastroenterologist, MIOT Hospital.
Drug users to receive crack pipes as part of pilot project
Vancouver health officials will distribute new crack pipes to non-injection drug users this fall as part of a pilot project aimed at engaging crack cocaine smokers and reducing the transmission of disease such as hepatitis C.
The program, part of Vancouver's harm reduction strategy, is expected to start in October and run for six months to a year, said Dr. Reka Gustafson, a medical health officer with Vancouver Coastal Health.
Grappling with ABC of hepatitis
HEPATITIS Victoria is urging people with risk factors for the disease to tell their doctors and arrange a blood test as soon as possible.
Hepatitis Victoria CEO Helen McNeill told the Weekly a veil of silence around the disease was needlessly condemning many people to an early death from liver failure and cancer.
Free screening camp on World Hepatitis Day
On the occasion of World Hepatitis Day, the Department of Gestroenrology and Hepatology at the Shaikh Zayed Hospital organised a free screening camp, walk and a public awareness seminar. The purpose of this seminar was to provide information to public regarding prevention and treatment of hepatitis. The participants were offered free hepatitis screening tests. More than 500 people underwent free screening for hepatitis B and C.
Hepatitis C Testing for Men with HIV is Critical, CDC Says
Testing men for hepatitis C who were infected with HIV through having sex with other men is highly important, a report published in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said. This is especially true for men choosing to engage in high-risk sexual behavior, UPI reports.
10 million illegal drug users have hepatitis C: study
Some 10 million people who inject illegal drugs have hepatitis C while 1.2 million have hepatitis B, according to the first global estimate of infection rates among this population
White House Commemorates World Hepatitis Day 2011
By Ronald Valdiserri, M.D., M.P.H., Deputy Assistant Secretary for Health, Infectious Diseases, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (Cross-posted from White House Office of National AIDS Policy Blog)
Today, I was honored to participate in a special White House event to commemorate the first official World Hepatitis Day. This event was one of many held across the United States and around the world for communities to join together and focus attention on the global health threat of viral hepatitis and promote actions to confront it.
Chronic hepatitis C estimated at 9.2 million individuals in Middle East and North Africa
During a press conference in Dubai on World Hepatitis Day scientific medical experts from the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region jointly announced a consensus statement on the identification and challenges posed by chronic hepatitis C in this region, calling for national and local governments and health care providers to join forces to address this condition.