Decrease in incidence of acute hepatitis observed in Kyrgyzstan

Bishkek, July 24, 2019. / Kabar/. There is a decrease in the incidence of acute hepatitis in Kyrgyzstan, representatives of the Health Ministry of the country told reporters at Kabar News Agency.
325 million people worldwide are infected with viral hepatitis B and C, and 1.5 million people die from it every year. In terms of mortality, this disease is in second place after tuberculosis, and the number of people infected with hepatitis is 9 times higher than the number of HIV-infected.
The Ministry of Health notes that Kyrgyzstan belongs to countries with a high incidence of acute and chronic viral hepatitis (B, C, D), transmitted through blood.
Today, there is a decrease in the incidence of acute hepatitis B from 29.9 cases to 5.2 per 100 thousand of the population last year. This is due to the introduction of compulsory vaccine to children from birth.
"Clinical guidelines and protocols for the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of viral hepatitis B, C, D and a guidline to surveillance were developed and put into practice. Direct-acting antiviral drugs have been appeared, hundreds of patients with hepatitis C have been cured," said Baktygul Ismailova, chief specialist of the public health department.
The Ministry of Health of the Kyrgyz Republic announced the launch of a month timed to coincide with World Hepatitis Day, which is celebrated on July 28.