TAIPEI, Taiwan -- Taiwan sees more
than 10,000 new cases of hepatitis C every year, the Taiwan Association
for the Study of the Liver (TASL, 台灣肝臟研究協會) said Monday, calling on the
government to strive for universal screenings and easier access to
medication.
"In a village in Southern Taiwan, 70 percent of the community has been diagnosed with the disease. Such rates are considered mad levels — almost unheard of — aside from in drug injection communities," founder and president of the World Hepatitis Alliance Charles Gore told The China Post.
Gore said that while Taiwan was a world leader in prevention efforts against hepatitis B, its accomplishments in that realm had seemed to distract from the severe hepatitis C situation.
Following an Asian Pacific Association for the Study of the Liver forum on hepatitis C in Kaohsiung Sunday, public health experts gathered in Taipei Monday to call for efforts to raise public awareness about the disease and to reduce the stigma around and discrimination experienced by patients with the disease.
They also urged the government to seek to not only meet but exceed World Health Organization targets for hepatitis C.
Lowering the price of newly developed drugs and allowing access to medication through clinics rather than only through specialists would help to effectively reduce infection rates, the TASL said.
Hepatitis C is a liver disease most commonly caused by unsafe injection practices, inadequate sterilization of medical equipment and blood transfusion. According to the WHO, approximately 80 percent of affected people do not exhibit any symptoms, while some may experience fatigue.
"We easily confuse cognitive impairment, or what we call brain fog in laymen's terms, with symptoms of busy life or old age. You feel tired, and you adjust to it over time. Without any symptoms (of something more serious), people lack the motivation to seek treatment," said Gore.
More Than Just a Disease
Chien Rong-nan (簡榮南), chairman of TASL, said it was not only a matter of treatment, but a public health issue.
The WHO made a commitment to eliminate viral hepatitis by the year 2030 in its Sustainable Development Goals, defining goals to reduce new infections by 90 percent and cut mortality rates of hepatitis B and C by 90 percent compared to baselines.
Chien said there are around 55,000 people infected with hepatitis C in Taiwan — only half of them are aware that they have the disease.
According to Chien, Korea does a complete screening for adults between the ages of 40 and 60, so the infected may receive treatment early on and reduce medical costs for the treatment of liver cirrhosis and liver cancer later on — both are conditions that a significant number of people who are chronically infected will develop.
"In a village in Southern Taiwan, 70 percent of the community has been diagnosed with the disease. Such rates are considered mad levels — almost unheard of — aside from in drug injection communities," founder and president of the World Hepatitis Alliance Charles Gore told The China Post.
Gore said that while Taiwan was a world leader in prevention efforts against hepatitis B, its accomplishments in that realm had seemed to distract from the severe hepatitis C situation.
Following an Asian Pacific Association for the Study of the Liver forum on hepatitis C in Kaohsiung Sunday, public health experts gathered in Taipei Monday to call for efforts to raise public awareness about the disease and to reduce the stigma around and discrimination experienced by patients with the disease.
They also urged the government to seek to not only meet but exceed World Health Organization targets for hepatitis C.
Lowering the price of newly developed drugs and allowing access to medication through clinics rather than only through specialists would help to effectively reduce infection rates, the TASL said.
Hepatitis C is a liver disease most commonly caused by unsafe injection practices, inadequate sterilization of medical equipment and blood transfusion. According to the WHO, approximately 80 percent of affected people do not exhibit any symptoms, while some may experience fatigue.
"We easily confuse cognitive impairment, or what we call brain fog in laymen's terms, with symptoms of busy life or old age. You feel tired, and you adjust to it over time. Without any symptoms (of something more serious), people lack the motivation to seek treatment," said Gore.
More Than Just a Disease
Chien Rong-nan (簡榮南), chairman of TASL, said it was not only a matter of treatment, but a public health issue.
The WHO made a commitment to eliminate viral hepatitis by the year 2030 in its Sustainable Development Goals, defining goals to reduce new infections by 90 percent and cut mortality rates of hepatitis B and C by 90 percent compared to baselines.
Chien said there are around 55,000 people infected with hepatitis C in Taiwan — only half of them are aware that they have the disease.
According to Chien, Korea does a complete screening for adults between the ages of 40 and 60, so the infected may receive treatment early on and reduce medical costs for the treatment of liver cirrhosis and liver cancer later on — both are conditions that a significant number of people who are chronically infected will develop.
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