Coimbatore: Despite the fact that India stands next only to China in terms of number of chronic hepatitis B infections, the number of HBV cases in the textile city are relatively lower. Addressing a section of select media on Friday, city-based leading gastroenterologist Dr. V. G. Mohan Prasad of VGM Hospital here said “to eliminate hepatitis from India, there is a need to create awareness in the medical fraternity by doing various continues medical education.
The aim should be to calculate the prevalence of hepatitis B in the region so that better understanding of the disease burden and treatment can be done.” Prevention can reduce the rate of the new infection and doctors and hospitals should also run prevention control programmes, he urged.
“Calling hepatitis B a silent killer as it displays no signs and symptoms, he said when left untreated, HBV can develop into a chronic infection. A majority of people suffering from ‘chronic hepatitis B’ are unaware of the infection and are at serious risk of developing cirrhosis or liver cancer,” Dr Prasad said.
Coimbatore-based VGM Hospital is starting a week-long medical camp from Monday where patients will be screened free for hepatitis B and C virus, he added.
