More awareness needed on hepatitis

EVERY year, more than 200,000 people in Africa are dying from complications of viral hepatitis B and C-related liver disease, including cirrhosis and liver cancer.
Sub-Saharan Africa has one of the highest burdens of disease with over 60 million living with chronic hepatitis B, 4.8 million of whom are children younger than five years old.
Viral hepatitis affects adults, adolescents and children in this region and also occurs as a co-infection in people with non-communicable and communicable diseases.
Among people living with HIV, globally 4 million people have HIV-hepatitis co-infection.
There should be intensified awareness of the dangers of Hepatitis in poor countries and treatments should be available to reduce the number of people that die from the disease.

Handsen Chikowore,
United Kingdom