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WHO urges to beat hepatitis, the "dormant" killer
21.07.2016 09:17 "Agro Perspectiva" (Kyiv) —
While making a call for countries ahead of the World Hepatitis Day (marked annually Jul 28), the World Health Organization (WHO) has said now about 400 million people are infected with hepatitis but only one in 20 know they have the disease, UN Radio reports.
As to the report, in its call, the UN health agency stressed the need for better access to testing and treatment «to stop people from dying needlessly».
As to the report, presently about one in three of those infected with the hepatitis virus - some 400 million people - will go on to develop cancer or liver disease.
And although the scale of the health threat is huge, with 1.45 million people dying of the disease in 2013, most people don’t realise that they’ve been infected.
As to the report, the virus can lie dormant for decades after being transmitted by contaminated water or food, bodily fluids and dirty needles.
It is to be admitted, within this year May 194 governments agreed to a new strategy to take on viral hepatitis, which exists in five types: A, B, C, D and E. The agreement’s aim is to treat eight million people by 2020 for hepatitis B and C, which are the biggest killers.
It is to be mentioned, the UN health agency’s Dr Stefan Wiktor, team lead for WHO’s Global Hepatitis Programme, recommends to vaccinate newborns for hepatitis B in their first 24 hours of life, as «six weeks is too late».
As to the report, in richer countries, most infections happen among injecting drug users, while in poorer countries, the disease can be traced to poor sterilisation techniques in medical settings.
In all cases, WHO recommends that «everyone should be tested».
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