PAHO says curative treatment for hepatitis can reduce preventable deaths
Published:Monday | July 30, 2018 | 11:37 AM
WASHINGTON D.C., CMC – The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) has called for curative treatment for hepatitis to reduce thousands of preventable deaths in the Americas.
As World Hepatitis Day was marked on Saturday, the international public health agency called for countries in the region, including in the Caribbean, to urgently step-up efforts to ensure the timely diagnosis and treatment of hepatitis.
In the region of the Americas, 3.9 million people live with chronic hepatitis B and 7.2 million with chronic hepatitis C, leading to over 125,000 deaths each year.
Liver cancer is the fourth leading cause of cancer-related deaths among men and the 7th leading cause of cancer-related deaths among women in the Americas, posing a major public health problem.
PAHO said that despite clear links between chronic hepatitis B and C and potentially fatal diseases such as cirrhosis and liver cancer, not enough is being done in the region to ensure prevention, detection, and treatment.
“While some countries in the region have made great strides towards addressing the risks to public health posed by hepatitis, many others continue to lag behind,” said Marcos Espinal, Director, Communicable Diseases and Environmental Determinants of Health, at PAHO/ World Health Organization (WHO).
“We know that treating hepatitis C can lead to around a 75 per cent reduction in the risk of developing liver cancer, yet just 14 per cent of those with hepatitis C in Latin America and the Caribbean are diagnosed, and less than one per cent receive life-saving treatment.”
The theme of this year’s World Hepatitis Day was “Time to test. Time to treat. Time to cure.”
The day focused on promoting three primary objectives: supporting the urgent scale-up of hepatitis prevention, testing, treatment, and care services; showcasing best practices and promote universal health coverage of hepatitis services; and improving partnerships and funding in the fight against viral hepatitis.
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