Today, the world marks the gains made in the fight against Hepatitis C on July 28. However, an estimated 290, 000 people still die from the viral disease every year according to UNITAID. But what is Hepatitis C?
Hepatitis C (HCV) is a blood-borne virus that can lead to serious liver damage, including cancer, when left untreated.
It is diagnosed in many cases when medical tests reveal liver damage.
During the early stages of infection, HCV may cause fever, jaundice, which is a yellow tint on the skin and eyes, stomach pain, fatigue, lack of appetite, nausea, muscle and joint pain and dark urine.
Symptoms of an advanced HCV infection can include confusion, fluid accumulation in the abdomen, slurred speech, itchiness, bleeding or bruising easily, swelling in the arms and legs, weight loss and blood vessels taking on a spider-like appearance.
According to a report by Dr Janet van Vlymen and colleagues, the Hepatitis C virus can be transferred into commonly used medications when using sterile single-use needles and syringes where it remains viable for several days.
How to Prevent Hepatitis C
To prevent HCV infection, do not share needles or razor blades. Avoid getting new piercings or tattoos from artists who do not operate in a sterile, hygienic environment.
Always practice safe sex by using a condom correctly and consistently or abstain from intercourse in cases of uncertainty.
Among many patients, timely and effective treatment is sadly hampered by a lack of awareness and inadequate access to diagnostic tools.
Kenya is rated as having a moderate to high prevalence rate of 5-7 per cent on the Centre for Disease Control (CDC)’s list of travel-related infectious diseases.
Bangladesh, China, Georgia, Haiti, India, Kenya, Mauritania, Mongolia, Namibia, Pakistan, Peru, Uganda, Ukraine, United Republic of Tanzania, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, and Zambia are among the countries that the CDC has worked with in the improvement of viral hepatitis prevention and control efforts.
About 58 million people are estimated to be infected with hepatitis C around the world. Only one or five or 21 per cent of these receive a diagnosis for their condition.
Unitaid is a global health agency that seeks innovative, cheap and effective solutions to prevent, diagnose and treat diseases in low- and middle-income countries.
Its efforts include funding initiatives to address major diseases such as HIV/AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis, as well as HIV co-infection or co-morbidities such as cervical cancer and hepatitis C and related issues like fever management.
According to Unitaid that is hosted by the World Health Organization (WHO) poor, marginalized and displaced populations are disproportionately affected by the Hepatitis C disease burden.
Particularly at risk are people who inject drugs and those living with HIV.
In 2016, the World Health Organization (WHO) set a target for the elimination of hepatitis as a global health threat by 2030. Efforts to reach this target so far remain encouraging, the UN body says.
The milestones reached to include the reduction of active cases by 13 million in the last 6 years.
“We are already seeing encouraging progress that shows us that meeting WHO targets is possible. Since 2015, hepatitis C-related deaths have decreased by more than 25 per cent, and the total number of people infected has fallen from 71 million to 58 million today. Thanks to the work of Unitaid and our partners, we now have the tools we need to fight hepatitis C and achieve these goals – but there is no time to waste,” said, said Janet Ginnard, Director of Strategy at Unitaid.
She praised the bold initiative undertaken by Egypt and Rwanda in scaling up treatment and diagnosis for patients, urging other nations to do the same.
“Certain pioneering countries such as Egypt and Rwanda, are already making this happen. They are proving that we can reach people infected with hepatitis C, connect them to services, save lives and drive down the disease burden. We now need other countries to follow suit,” .
Unitaid says effective treatment of the viral disease is only possible with a timely and accurate diagnosis.
“But treatments have little effect if people do not know they are infected. Diagnosing hepatitis C previously required complex labs and specialist technicians, making testing expensive and inaccessible,” reads the statement.
As part of efforts to address this challenge, Unitaid has supported the development and scale-up of simple diagnostic tools as well as showing how they can be used to improve access by vulnerable people and through local health facilities.
“Unitaid has proven that simplified testing and treatment for hepatitis C at local healthcare centres is not only feasible – including in resource-limited settings – but highly effective. With more than Sh 4.9 billion or USD 45 million invested since 2015, we brought down prices for medicines, simplified testing and raised awareness of these innovations,” said Ms Ginnard.
The Unitaid strategy boss says the new approaches could play a significant role in saving lives.
“These methods, if implemented wide-scale, hold the key to averting thousands of needless hepatitis-related deaths each year,” Ms Ginnard said.
Medical advances in the recent past have shortened the treatment time to just three months for nine out of ten or more than 90 per cent of people treated.
New therapies that directly target the virus and can clear it within 8 to 12 weeks include daclatasvir, elbasvir and grazoprevir, ledipasvir, gecaprevir, simeprevir and sofosbuvir.
Unitaid and its development partners have worked to get more affordable prices for these life-saving medicines. Thanks to these efforts, a full course of treatment is now available for Sh 32,550 or USD 300 or less in most low- and middle-income countries, compared to several thousands of dollars in high-income countries.
Unitaid is now funding research into the development of a single-injection cure for hepatitis C.
“As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to strain health systems in resource-limited settings, it is more essential than ever that we bolster our progress against hepatitis C and avert preventable disease”, said Ms Ginnard.
