Every year on July 28, many countries celebrate World Hepatitis Day. The date for his institution was the birthday of the American doctor Baruch Samuel Bloomberg, Nobel Prize winner who discovered the hepatitis B virus.
The first such Day was held in 2008 at the initiative of the International Alliance against Hepatitis. In 2011, the World Health Organization (WHO) added this date to its calendar, thus giving World Hepatitis Day official status.
On this day, WHO recommends that doctors around the world conduct educational campaigns, telling people about viral hepatitis and the diseases to which it leads. Preventive measures are no less important: diagnostics, vaccination against hepatitis, etc.
Hepatitis is an inflammation of liver tissue. There are five major hepatitis viruses, defined as types A, B, C, D and E. Depending on the type of hepatitis, people can become infected either from infected body fluids or from contaminated food and water.
Hepatitis viruses are considered one of the main risk factors for human health. According to WHO, hepatitis has affected about 2 billion people in the world, that is, every third person on the planet, 325 million people live with viral hepatitis B or C, 900 thousand people die every year from viral hepatitis B. In some countries, most of the population has suffered from viral hepatitis A, and a tenth of residents carry hepatitis B and C viruses.
Viral hepatitis — is isolated and is caused by a virus that can multiply in liver cells. Hepatitis caused by different viruses is transmitted differently, but they can all cause acute and chronic liver inflammation, which sometimes leads to cirrhosis and cancer. Hepatitis E can cause death in 20% of pregnant women.
Hepatitis B and C together are the most common cause of death, killing 1.4 million people each year. And amid the COVID-19 pandemic, deaths from viral hepatitis have increased.
There are two ways to protect yourself from hepatitis. Firstly, you can try to avoid infection: maintain hygiene (this is important for protection against viruses A and E), exercise caution during blood transfusions and sexual intercourse (this will help protect yourself from viruses B and C). Secondly, you can vaccinate — with antiviral drugs; you can cure more than 95% of people with hepatitis C infection. As a rule, the vaccine reliably protects a person from infection with viruses A and B.
Both of these defenses are the focus of attention on World Hepatitis Day, which each year also focuses on a specific topic. People are told about the importance of preventive measures, provided with information materials, and warned against risky behavior.
By the way, the Day also has its own symbol — «Three wise monkeys» — and the corresponding motto — « I don’t see anything, I don’t hear anything, I won’t say anything», as an indicator of the attitude of modern society to the problem of hepatitis —, that is, ignoring it.
Therefore, the observance of World Hepatitis Day is aimed, first of all, at attracting the attention of the general public and specialists to this problem, increasing the interest of citizens of each country in carrying out preventive measures. The application of hygienic knowledge in practice by each person, recognition of the importance of immunoprophylaxis of hepatitis A and B, as well as participation in vaccination campaigns will preserve the health of the population not only of each individual country, but also of the population of the planet as a whole.
Article «Hepatitis – penetrating to the liver»