In addition to tackling COVID and the monkeypox outbreak, the UN health agency has also been keeping a close eye on the puzzling spread of hepatitis in previously healthy children, which has left dozens needing lifesaving liver transplants.
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The UN health agency pointed out on Wednesday, World Hepatitis Day, that every 30 seconds a person dies from a hepatitis-related illness and called for all countries to work together to eliminate this preventable disease as a public health threat by 2030.
Our main stories today: UN leaders call for a return to sea rescues in the Mediterranean, following Libya shipwreck; UN human rights chief denounces indifference to victims of Syrian airstrikes; World Food Programme doubles supplies to those affected by Ebola outbreak in DR Congo, and WHO urges more investment to eradicate hepatitis.
Recent reductions in the costs of diagnosing and treating viral hepatitis should be an incentive for countries to scale up investments in disease elimination.
That’s the view of the World Health Organization which is calling on all countries to take advantage of the lower costs and match investments to eliminate the disease.
Ahead of World Hepatitis Day, marked this Sunday, WHO’s hepatitis team leader, Dr. Marc Bulterys spoke spoke to UN News’s Samuel Mungai, and explained prevention measures that some countries are taking to protect against hepatitis related diseases.
Calling for “bold political leadership” ahead of World Hepatitis Day, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) on Friday urged countries to take advantage of recent reductions in the costs of diagnosing and treating viral hepatitis and scale up investments in disease elimination.
Millions of people globally who have viral hepatitis are unaware or unable to receive treatment, the United Nations health agency said Friday, on the eve of World Hepatitis Day, raising the alarm to “find, test and treat the missing millions.”
A growing number of people in Syria are being infected with the virus Hepatitis C according to a survey conducted by the World Health Organisation (WHO).
The study noted with concern that among 21,858 people surveyed across Syria, numerous cases of hepatitis C, which affects the liver, had been registered among vulnerable groups such as kidney dialysis patients and sex workers.
Efforts are being made by African countries to eliminate viral hepatitis as a public health threat by 2030, the World Health Organization (WHO) has said.
The first-ever WHO global health strategy aimed at preventing and treating the disease is being implemented on the continent.
Hepatitis B, a viral infection that attacks the liver and is spread through contact with blood and bodily fluids, is highly endemic in Africa and affects an estimated 100 million people.