New screening program and treatment of hepatitis B can counteract the deadly complications of the disease -
The search first "screen processing" Africa program in hepatitis B suggests the initiative can reduce fatal complications of the virus.
the new findings, researchers at a number of international institutions including Imperial College London and the Medical Research Council Unit Gambia, also suggest the initiative is feasible and profitable.
Thursday 28 July marks World hepatitis Day.
the hepatitis B infects approximately 250 million people worldwide, and is transmitted through blood and body fluids. It is commonly transferred from mother to baby during childbirth. However, the virus does not cause immediate symptoms, and remain silent in the body during decades to trigger severe complications such as liver damage (cirrhosis) and cancer.
The region most affected by hepatitis B is sub-Saharan Africa, where 80 million people are infected, said Dr. Maud Lemoine, lead author of the research from the Department of Surgery and cancer at Imperial "hepatitis B is the leading cause of liver cancer and cirrhosis in sub-Saharan Africa, however, most patients do. do not realize they are infected until they develop severe symptoms. in our clinic in Gambia often we would see patients in their twenties or thirties, with liver tumors the size of footballs. they had probably been infected since childhood, but by the time they came to us in the clinic there was little we could do for them. "
to catch the infection of hepatitis earlier before it causes conditions such as liver damage or cancer, the research team conducted a test of pilot study people for the virus in communities in the Gambia, West Africa.
the program, called prolifica (prevention of liver fibrosis and cancer in Africa), was conducted between December 2011 and January 2014. the initiative was a collaboration between Imperial College London, the Medical Research Council Unit Gambia, Gambian Ministry of health and social Affairs, and national public health laboratories.
in so-called 'screen and treat' program, the team used an instant cheap test to screen around 6,000 people for the virus in the Gambian community, and sent the infected people for testing and treatment of liver. they also projected around 00 blood samples from blood banks, as previous research has suggested some donor blood is infected with hepatitis B. If an infected sample was detected, the team contacted the donor and sent them for testing and treatment.
The results, published in The Lancet Global Health, suggest that the program is cost effective and can be able to prevent complications of the disease.
Although there has been an effective vaccine against hepatitis B available since 190, about a third of the population of Africa are still not vaccinated. Only one in ten infants are vaccinated at birth, as recommended by the World Health Organization, as many regions lack the infrastructure and resources to administer the vaccine. Also, people born before 190 - the date of the vaccine became available -. Will not be protected
The virus can be successfully treated with antiviral drugs, but people are not routinely tested for hepatitis B unless they have conditions such as HIV, and so most cases are not detected. In addition, these antiviral drugs are expensive
Dr. Ramou Nije, co-author of the International Research Agency on Cancer said: .. "In Africa, access to testing and treatment of hepatitis B is almost nonexistent yet viral hepatitis kills thousands of people each year. the disease can be successfully controlled with medication, but in many countries, access to treatment is not available at low cost and is limited to persons who are affected by HIV / AIDS. "
the new study found 9 percent of people and 13 percent of potential blood donors tested positive for the virus hepatitis B. However, people screened only 4 percent of those tested were considered to have a fairly serious infection to require treatment with antiviral
Dr. Lemoine explained: "a relatively few. people need antiviral treatment, and the cost of the drug is much less than the treatment of lower complications of the line such as liver damage and cancer. "
regime also had a good 70 percent screening coverage, and patients who need antiviral drugs kept their schedule over the next year
Dr. Lemoine added: "Our study shows that screening programs and treatment targeting the general population are feasible - and successful - intervention sub-Saharan Africa, and should be implemented in other regions of the continent"
.Prof. Umberto D'Alessandro, Director of the MRC Gambia Unit, added,.. "hepatitis B and its consequences are a major problem but often underestimated public health in Africa This is clearly demonstrated by the program prolifica which also highlights the importance of research to inform health policies and practices "
Dr. Stefan Wiktor, lead the global hepatitis Programme at the World health Organization added". The World Health Organization recently adopted a comprehensive strategy to eliminate the infection of hepatitis in 2030 to achieve this goal, we will need innovative approaches, such as that developed by the prolifica team to provide screening and treatment services to as many people as possible. "
Charles Gore, President of the World Hepatitis Alliance, said:" In May, the world has adopted targets for the elimination of hepatitis B. The most difficult of them is to diagnose 0% of people living with the virus in 2030 because it requires a public health approach that has been significantly lacking to date. This project and its results are so important because they show not only that it can be made profitable, but how it can be done. "
The Honourable Minister of Health and Social Affairs in Gambia, Dr M Omar Sey said" the government of the Gambia takes the threat to public health hepatitis B as a cause of death premature young adults very seriously. That's why he brought a full support for both the study of the Gambia hepatitis intervention (GHIS), a vaccination program against long-term hepatitis B funded IARC, and the draft prolifica, a multi-hepatitis B treatment program funded by the EU. We are very keen that the data generated from these studies is now used to inform policies, in particular the setting implementation of a whole screen program countries and demonstrate that treatment for HBV elimination is possible, according to the recent global strategy World Health Assembly 69th statement. We hope that successful strategic partnerships that brought us up here continue in the future. "
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