NEW DELHI: In a bid raise public awareness on Hepatitis in the national capital, the Delhi government has organised a free liver testing and vaccination camp session for virals B and C. The camp is being held at the Institute of Liver and Biliary Sciences (ILBS).
The camp, which opened on Wednesday, will be run till December 11. Being organised to mark the 22nd Hepatitis Day, the camp was opened by Health Minister Satyendar Jain.
On the first day, 123 people were screened and 164 were vaccinated. SK Sarin, director, ILBS, emphasised on the importance of timely screening to check for Hepatitis B and C. “An estimated 4 per cent of Indians are afflicted with Hepatitis B and 1 per cent with Hepatitis C. Put together, around 60 millions of us could be having Hepatitis B or C, or both. While new drugs are available for treating Hepatitis C, type B can only be prevented through vaccination. Sadly, India does not have a national program against viral hepatitis yet,” Sarin said.
Hepatitis B cases in Delhi are more than type C. While B is found in 3-4% of residents approximately, C is detected in 1-2% of residents.“Liver infection is spreading all over the world. We hold vaccination programmes for Hepatitis A, B and E. However, there’s still no protective vaccine for Hep-C virus,” Jain said.