Weill Cornell Medicine-Qatar marks World Hepatitis Day
DOHA, Qatar- Wednesday marked World Hepatitis Day and Weill Cornell Medicine-Qatar is promoting awareness about the disease.
The liver is one of the vital organs in human beings. It does over five hundred essential functions a day – removing poisons, food toxins; studies have shown that the liver can even extract bacteria from ones bloodstream successfully as well as make proteins.
A type of liver inflammation caused by infectious agents and toxic elements, Hepatitis coined as the ‘silent killer’, that does not reveal to its victims any serious symptoms until it advances a great deal. The disease impairs critical body functions, resulting in serious liver damage with fatal outcomes. Hepatitis viruses are type A to E, each varying in the way it is spread and its severity and prevention. Of these, hepatitis B and C are the most serious.
A new study led by the World Health Organization(WHO) and published in The Lancet launch shows that reducing life-threatening infections is a global priority, with 1.3 million hepatic cases being fatal annually (WHO Global Hepatitis Report-2024). Three thousand, five hundred are dying daily from hepatitis B and C infections while more than 300 million have the diseases.
World Hepatitis Day is a holiday declared by the World Health Organization on July 28 each year. It is associated with liver diseases and the need for rapid testing, treatment, and prevention. WHO aims to eliminate viral hepatitis as a public health threat by 2030. Worldwide, the battle continues on several fronts, including the inclusion of a vaccine in national immunization programs and the development of new antiviral treatments for specific infections. In Qatar, the effort to eliminate hepatitis B has led to a significant improvement with free vaccination, HepB-birth administration to newborns and so on.
Based at WCM-Q, in Qatar the Infectious Disease Epidemiology Group (IDEG) led by Dr. Laith Abu-Raddad has been associated with more than 50 publications on viral hepatitis epidemiology and provided input to several local as well as global policy initiatives including WHO. The studies, most of which were funded by grants from QNRF, have also contributed to enhanced knowledge about the epidemiology of diseases, and helped establish public health policies as well as programs for the WHO in the region.
Together with the WHO Regional Office for Eastern Mediterranean (State of art, A global report prepared by IDEG related to hepatitis C virus epidemic in this region conducted and recently published as a detailed document which provides clear direction on eliminating HCVPHT2030.
Dr Abu-Raddad, who is professor of population health sciences as well as associate dean for external research funding and director of the Biostatistics, Epidemiology & Biomathematics Core at WCM-Q said: “World Hepatitis Day serves to focus our attention on still one of today’s most deadly killer diseases with staggering morbidity worldwide. Luckily, a few of these viruses are preventable with vaccination (hepatitis A and B) while others can be treated (hepatitis C). And we must come together to make sure that these proven interventions reach all who need them and assist those already impacted by hepatitis. Together, we can beat this deadly disease and create a healthier world for everyone.
WCM-Q researchers at the Institute for Population Health (IPH) led by Dr. Laith J Abu-Raddad have also published a systematic overview of 37 reviews on hepatitis C in individual countries across MENA during 2008–16. In this regard, the research aimed to assess data quality in these reviews and to emphasize on evidence based intervention strategies (scale up treatment and prioritize prevention) for hepatitis C elimination.
Based on the study findings, the research team recommended that preventive strategies should target top hepatitis C-exposed populations and drilled in to how screening and linkage of care need to get involved. The study, entitled Systematic review of Hepatitis C virus infection in the Middle East and North Africa: J. World Gastroenterol.
Emphasizing the importance of hepatitis awareness, Dr. Sohaila Cheema, associate professor of clinical population health sciences and assistant dean at IPH said that “Millions around the globe are affected by viral B or C but most do not realize they have been infected it is essential to raise awareness regarding this disease”. These patients are at the highest risk of developing chronic liver disease and can be epidemiologically responsible for silent transmission if they remain undiagnosed. These results are all the more alarming as over one million people die every year from hepatitis, despite there being a prevention vaccine and treatment option available. A healthy Liver is Important for human health”We all need to raise awareness and improve prevention strategies.
World Hepatitis Day is celebrated on the birthday of Nobel Laureate Professor Baruch Samuel Blumberg, who discovered hepatitis B virus and its diagnostic test and vaccine. This day serves as a critical reminder of the need to protect and take care of your liver, but it also helps bring awareness on why we should work together in order to reachthe common ambitionof creating an ideal planet free from hepatitis.