World Hepatitis Day (WHD) takes places every year on 28 July bringing the world together under a single theme to raise awareness of the global burden of viral hepatitis and to influence real change. In 2022 the theme is ‘I Can’t Wait’.
ANHI Industry on World Hepatitis day (WHD) raise awareness of the importance of knowing your hepatitis status and to spread the word about treatment. ANHI Health Care Department Doctors take a wonderful initiative on free hepatitis test of the overall industry employees and workers to ensure the health and wellbeing of employees.
On World Hepatitis Day ANHI call on people from across the Pakistan to take action and raise awareness of hepatitis because Hepatitis Can’t Wait.
Hepatitis day is to celebrate the progress we have made and to meet the current challenges. It’s also an opportunity for us to increase awareness and encourage a real political change to jointly facilitate prevention, diagnosis and treatment.
I can’t wait
‘I can’t wait’ is the campaign theme to launch World Hepatitis Day 2022. It will highlight the need to accelerate the fight against viral hepatitis and the importance of testing and treatment for the real people who need it.
With a person dying every 30 seconds from a hepatitis related illness – ANHI HSE (Health Safety and Environment) department can’t wait to act on viral hepatitis issues.
- People living with viral hepatitis unaware can’t wait for testing
- People living with hepatitis can’t wait for life saving treatments
- Expectant mothers can’t wait for hepatitis screening and treatment
- Newborn babies can’t wait for birth dose vaccination
- People affected by hepatitis can’t wait to end stigma and discrimination
- Community organizations can’t wait for greater investment
- Decision makers can’t wait and must act now to make hepatitis elimination a reality through political will and funding.
ANHI Industry role in Hepatitis Day: Observing World Hepatitis Day is mandated by the World Health Assembly as a public health issue of priority. The World Health Organization has set ambitious targets of eliminating viral hepatitis as a public health concern by 2030, which means a 90% reduction in incidence and a 65% reduction in mortality compared with a 2015 baseline. So ANHI Team Member marked World Hepatitis Day with an online educational campaign on hepatitis transmission, diagnoses, prevention and treatment. ANHI mark World Hepatitis Day, by promoted free testing, advice and treatment services at their health Department clinic. ANHI encourage their followers on social media to get tested for viral hepatitis.
The word hepatitis refers to inflammation of the liver, resulting in variable degrees of impairment of the functions of the liver, which are vital for the body. While there are various causes of hepatitis, including drugs, alcohol and obesity, the commonest cause, worldwide, is infection with one or more of the hepatitis viruses – hepatitis A, B, C, D and E.
While each of these can cause hepatitis and serious liver disease, it is important to understand that they have different modes of transmission, cause different patterns of disease and require different means of prevention. Hepatitis B, C and D are transmitted by infected blood and body fluids, and require special attention because they often lead to prolonged illness and severe progressive liver damage, known as chronic hepatitis.
This can progress to an irreversible stage of advanced liver disease, known as liver cirrhosis, which can lead, in some, to liver cancer and/or liver failure and death. Unfortunately, over one million people are still dying annually from viral hepatitis each year, despite the availability of a vaccine for hepatitis B and a cure for hepatitis C. The reasons for this are several, chief amongst them, in Pakistan, being a lack of awareness, lack of screening programmes, paucity of treatment facilities, inability to afford treatment and an ongoing cycle of infection caused in large part by unsafe injection practices, transfusion of un-screened blood and unsafe surgical and dental practices.
ANHI HEPATITIS WORKSHOP:
On World Hepatitis Day ANHI held a workshop to discuss a draft national strategic plan for viral hepatitis as the first step of the national programme to eliminate hepatitis. The workshop was attended by the Ministry of Health, local pharmaceutical companies and service providers from consultants to liver specialists. The workshop produced a set of recommendations to accelerate hepatitis elimination in Pakistan:
- Periodic testing of Industry Employees
- Providing hepatitis B vaccine to all healthcare employees and health workers
- Expansion of hepatitis research
- Continued cooperation between civil society and academia
- Prevention measures in health facilities, especially facilities for infectious diseases
- Safe transportation of sharp objects and biomedical waste disposal
- Training of health workers on scientific prevention measures
