Viral hepatitis kills more Asians - every 30 seconds
A Singapore-based group fighting the spread of viral hepatitis yesterday called for greater political will to combat the disease, as new data showed it killed one person every 30 seconds in Asia.
A Singapore-based group fighting the spread of viral hepatitis yesterday called for greater political will to combat the disease, as new data showed it killed one person every 30 seconds in Asia.
Ding-Shinn Chen, chair of an NGO called the Coalition to Eradicate Viral Hepatitis in Asia-Pacific, said the latest figures, released publicly in June, show that one million people die from the illness in the region annually, up from 695,000 in 1990.
It is symptomatic of the poor understanding and lack of political commitment that has typically surrounded these diseases in many countries
This translates to one person dying every 30 seconds from hepatitis, according to the figures, derived from the latest study on the global burden of disease led by the University of Washington. The Asia-Pacific death rate from hepatitis - which settles in the liver causing inflammation - is three times that of the acquired immune deficiency syndrome (Aids), Chen said.
It is "symptomatic of the poor understanding and lack of political commitment that has typically surrounded these diseases in many countries," Chen said in Singapore ahead of World Hepatitis Day tomorrow.
According to the World Health Organisation, viral hepatitis kills close to 1.4 million globally, and affects millions of others. The disease exists in five forms: A, B, C, D and E.
Vaccines are available for all forms except C, which morphs into stronger variants when under attack by the immune system.