Hepatitis B accounts for 80% of cases of viral hepatitis

Hepatitis B accounts for 80% of cases of viral hepatitis

(VOV) -Out of every 100,000 Vietnamese people, 11 are infected with viral hepatitis, according to the Preventive Medicine Department.

The Ho Chi Minh City Hospital for Tropical Diseases (HTD) on July 28 hosted a meeting in response to World Hepatitis Day to raise public awareness about this deadly disease.

Vietnam is one of the countries having a high rate of hepatitis. Based on epidemiological studies, the number of hepatitis B infections constitute from 10- 25%, and hepatitis C from 0.4 to 4.1% of the national population. In particular, the positive rate for hepatitis B makes up for 80% of all cases of viral hepatitis.

Over the past 10 years, the incidence of viral hepatitis has trended upwards, especially since 2009.

The World Health Organization WHO has pledged to continue working closely with the Ministry of Health and municipal Health Department and a number of key hospitals on providing technical support for viral hepatitis prevention and control.

Dr. Le Manh Hung, HTD Deputy Director said, “Generally, hepatitis viruses do not show external abnormal symptoms. Around 75-80% of patients remain normal. Therefore, screening is the best way for early detection. The late detection will reduce the efficiency of treatment. When the liver is badly damaged, the treatment process will cause dangerous complications without bringing an effect. ”

According to the WHO, viral hepatitis is considered a silent killer, claiming the lives of 1.5 million people annually in the world. This is a group of virus-caused infectious diseases that can cause acute and chronic hepatitis for hundreds of millions of people, thus easily leading to serious complications such as cirrhosis, liver failure and liver cancer.

At the World Health Assembly (WHA) in May 2014, 194 member countries adopted a resolution on improving viral hepatitis prevention, diagnosis and treatment.

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