Soumya Swaminathan, director, M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation, speaking at the inauguration of the Indian Hepatitis Summit 2025 in Chennai on Friday
| Photo Credit: B. Velankanni Raj
A two-day summit in Chennai on eliminating hepatitis had speakers calling for early detection to prevent deaths due to the viral infection.
At the inauguration of the Indian Hepatitis Summit 2025 in the city on Friday (January 17, 2025), R.P. Shanmugam, founder of Chennai Liver Foundation (CLF), the organiser of the event, said 70% of deaths due to the infection were preventable. Globally, around 1.3 million people died of viral hepatitis infection in 2022, and the number has gone up from 1.1 million in 2019, said Dr. Shanmugam.
Though there are vaccines to prevent the hepatitis B infection, awareness is low, he said.
Rachel Holford, president, World Hepatitis Alliance, said the infection was “a global crisis” and added that India needed to improve treatment to meet the WHO‘s Sustainable Development Goal target, which aimed at eliminating hepatitis by 2030. John Ward, director, Coalition for Global Hepatitis Elimination, said early detection would help eliminate the disease.
R.K. Dhiman, director, Sanjay Gandhi Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences, Lucknow, termed hepatitis a major health burden as nearly 325 million were affected in India.
App for data collection launched
An app for data collection and follow-up was launched at the summit. Sowmya Swaminathan, chairperson of the M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation, while launching the app, said hepatitis and tuberculosis were taking an equal toll on the population. The app presents an opportunity for public healthcare professionals to deal with not just the disease but also the people affected by it, she opined.
Recalling how research done in South Africa and India helped shape strategies in tackling HIV infections, she said the key was in testing, raising awareness, and strengthening linkages with government agencies. She further urged CLF to invest in research and development and suggested that the conference come up with “a call to action” to determine where to focus in India.
Online courses for healthcare professionals
Speaking at the event, Roderico H. Ofrin, WHO representative to India, launched a website for online courses that will target 10,000 healthcare professionals with resource personnel support from the Indian Council of Medical Research and the National Institute of Epidemiology. Dr. Ofrin said India had made significant achievements since it launched the programme to eliminate hepatitis in 2018.
It is necessary to keep the needs of the people living with the viral infection at the centre of any intervention, he observed, adding there were safe and effective vaccines and medicines to treat the infection.
India produces 70% of the global vaccine needs, he pointed out, and said he would like to see the country develop a vaccine for hepatitis as well. He called for a need to identify gamechangers in this fight against viral hepatitis.
S. Vivekanand, organising secretary of the summit, said 50 speakers had been lined up for the event that included not just doctors but also microbiologists and public health providers.
Published – January 17, 2025 03:28 pm IST
