Surjit Singh Flora
In an attempt to speed up the process of eliminating the illness, which affects fifty million people throughout the world, the World Health Organization (WHO) has pre-qualified the first self-test for the hepatitis C virus. It is believed that there are between 6 and 12 million persons in India who are infected with hepatitis C, according to certain research conducted at the regional level. Chronic HBV infection is responsible for 40-50% of instances of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and 20-30% of cases of cirrhosis in the nation. Chronic HCV infection is responsible for 12-32% of HCC and 12-20% of cirrhosis in the country.
The Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) is the causative agent of hepatitis C, which encompasses inflammation of the liver. It may lead to permanent ailments such as liver cirrhosis and cancer, depending on how mild or serious it is the condition. As a result of coming into touch with contaminated blood, hepatitis C may infect others.
People who have hepatitis C often do not exhibit any symptoms that are evident until the liver has been destroyed. This indicates that individuals harbour the virus without being aware of it. It is possible to confuse symptoms with those of other conditions, such as the flu, muscular pain and fever, feeling fatigued all the time, suffering from lack of appetite, experiencing stomach discomfort, or feeling ill. It is only via testing that you will be able to determine whether or not you have Herpatitis C.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), this may occur as a result of sharing needles or syringes, as well as from hazardous medical procedures such as blood transfusions administered with unscreened blood products and sexual behaviors that result in exposure to blood. It is possible to have symptoms such as fever, exhaustion, lack of appetite, nausea, vomiting, stomach discomfort, dark urine, and jaundice, which is characterized by a yellowing of the skin or eyes. The pre-qualification comes three years after the World Health Organization (WHO) suggested HCV self-testing in 2021 to assist with testing programs that were already in place.
Now that the self-test kit is available, people will have the ability to choose the manner of testing, which will provide them with autonomy and access to self-care services that are free of stigma. It is anticipated that the new kit, which has been created by OraSure Technologies and is known as the OraWuick HCV self test, would be of great assistance in broadening access to testing and diagnosis. A test strip that works by identifying antibodies in the blood of persons who have signs and symptoms of hepatitis and those who are at risk for infection with hepatitis C makes up the kit, which is also an expansion of a quick antibody test that has previously been pre-qualified.
Antibody testing, on the other hand, is reserved exclusively for use by trained specialists. Every single day, the hepatitis virus claims the lives of 3,500 people. Only 36 percent of the 50 million individuals who were living with hepatitis C had been identified by the end of 2022, and only 20 percent had gotten treatment that was curative, according to Dr. Meg Doherty, who is the head of the Department of Global HIV, Hepatitis, and STI Programmes at the World Health Organization.
According to Dr. Meg, “the inclusion of this product to the WHO prequalification list offers a safe and effective means to extend HCV testing and treatment services.” This will ensure that a greater number of individuals obtain the diagnosis and treatment they need, which will eventually contribute to the worldwide objective of eliminating HCV. According to Dr. Roogerio Gaspar, who is the director of the Department of Regulation and Prequalification at the World Health Organization (WHO), the availability of the pre-qualified self-test will make it possible for countries with low and middle incomes to have access to self-testing options that are both safe and affordable. Additionally, this will ensure that ninety percent of people who have the disease make a diagnosis.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the diagnosis is essential because it leads the path for therapy, which ultimately results in treating around 95% of the cases. A significant number of nations continue to have limited access to both diagnosis and treatment. World Health Organization (WHO) reports around one million new illnesses per year. Furthermore, it posits that around 242,000 individuals passed away as a result of Hepatitis C in the year 2022.
It is not something that should cause concern since it is now curable and there is a treatment for it in the majority of instances. Yet, it is something that has to be addressed. The disease became chronic in around 85 percent of individuals who were infected, and it was fatal in twenty percent of cases during the first five years, with more cases to come. This was before we activists shook enough cages to finance research for a cure. The manifestation of symptoms may not occur for decades, and by that time, it may be too late. This is no longer the case if you believe you may have been exposed to the virus and seek treatment for it, regardless of whether or not you have symptoms. Therefore, if you are worried, you should see a doctor.
The Hepatitis C vaccination is not available at this time. Obtaining one that protects against Hepatitis A and B is a good idea since it lowers the likelihood of contracting Hepatitis C and other diseases.
And as someone who dealt with a great number of people who passed away as a result of the absence of a cure for Hepatitis C, I can say that it was a little unsettling to be in a situation where there was no vaccination and no therapy that was even remotely effective for a blood-borne disease such as Hepatitis C. There is no publicly available head count on how many people passed away before the treatment was discovered; nonetheless, 2% of the population and 6% of healthcare personnel were infected with the disease.
The airborne transmission of diseases, such as the Covid virus, is far more difficult to restrict after all of the possible modes of transmission have been identified. The act of catching someone’s breath is far simpler than catching their blood. Getting the vaccination and taking steps that decrease breathing in the air of infected individuals (masks/distance) is our greatest protection against this challenge. However, this is a little more difficult to do. Especially if, rather than the complete hush that first enveloped hepatitis C, we will have to deal with the political distortions that make our present pandemic seem to be less terrible than the epidemic that occurred between the years 1970 and 2000.
However, in recent years, there has been a significant improvement in the medical therapies available for hepatitis C. Direct-acting antiviral medicines have the potential to cure hepatitis C in more than ninety percent of patients, often within eight to twelve weeks of therapy. When it comes to avoiding the long-term health implications of this condition, early detection and treatment are more important than ever. It is possible to cure the majority of individuals who have hepatitis C and prevent the significant problems that may arise from the disease. Be sure to look for yourself.
(The writer is a veteran journalist and freelance writer based in Brampton)
