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WHO Chief urges governments to eliminate hepatitis
29.07.2019 13:11 "Agro Perspectiva" (Kyiv) —
As of last week, WHO (UN World Health Organization) published, ahead of the World Hepatitis Day, a new sutudy saying investing US$6 milliard per year into eliminating hepatitis within 67 low- and middle-income countries would avert 4.5 million premature deaths by 2030, and more than 26 million deaths beyond that target date, UN Radio says referring to the WHO report.
As to the WHO study, in total US$58.7 milliard is needed to eliminate viral hepatitis as a public health threat within these 67 countries by 2030. This means reducing new hepatitis infections by 90% and deaths by 65%.
As to the WHO study, some countries are already taking action. The Government of India, for example, has announced that it will offer free testing and treatment for both hepatitis B and C, as part of its universal health coverage plan. This has been facilitated through the reduction in prices of medicines. In India, a hepatitis C cure costs less than US$40 and a year of hepatitis B treatment costs less than US$30. At these prices, hepatitis C cure will result in healthcare cost savings within three years.
«Today 80% of people living with hepatitis can’t get the services they need to prevent, test for and treat the disease,» WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said while commenting on the study.
«On World Hepatitis Day, we’re calling for bold political leadership, with investments to match. We call on all countries to integrate services for hepatitis into benefit packages as part of their journey towards universal health coverage,» he stressed.
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