National programme for elimination viral hepatitis launched

Union minister Ashwini Kumar Choubey launched a national programme aimed at eliminating viral hepatitis, recognized as an important public health problem across the world, on Sunday in Mumbai.

The minister of state for health launched the National Action Plan - Viral Hepatitis in presence of Amitabh Bachchan, the goodwill ambassador for hepatitis, WHO South-East Asia Region.

Bachchan described how he contracted the disease, an inflammatory condition of the liver, when blood was transfused into him after he was injured during the shooting of "Coolie" in 1982.

One of the blood donors had Hepatitis B, the actor said, ruing that the detection process for the virus was not available then. He came to know about the condition in 2005.

According to WHO estimates, viral hepatitis caused 1.34 million deaths globally in 2015, a number comparable to deaths due to tuberculosis, worldwide.

In India, it is estimated that there are 4 crore people suffering from Hepatitis B and 0.6-1.2 crore people ...