A team of doctors from Hyderabad, specialising in gastroenterology and hepatology, has expressed concern over the high prevalence of Hepatitis B and C in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.
They stressed the need for governments of both States to help patients in meeting the high treatment costs while spreading awareness among the public so that the disease could be prevented.
K. Somasekhar, who is heading the doctors’ team in educating the people and conducting screening camps across A.P, told The Hindu that he spoke to the Health Ministers of the two Telugu-speaking States about the necessity to provide medicines at affordable costs.
A consultant hepatologist at the Apollo Hospitals, Dr. Somasekhar said 144 of the 1,500 persons in the Palakollu area of West Godavari district tested for Hepatitis B and C were found to be positive.
The number of cases was large in some areas of both the States.
A majority of them (about 85 %) were inactive carriers. All those afflicted with the disease will have their livers damaged in the course of time if not treated properly.
They are bound to suffer from cirrhosis of the liver and also cancer.
Foundation coming up
at Nimmakuru
With the support of his colleagues Naveen Polavarapu, G. Sudarsana Rao and others, Dr. Somasekhar is setting up a Save the Liver Foundation at his native place Nimmakuru in Krishna district.
The Foundation is scheduled for inauguration on January 26 by actor and politician Nandamuri Harikrishna and Supreme Court judge J. Chalameswar.
Dr. Somasekhar said he and his friends had screened 15,000 persons in A.P. and Telangana in the last one year and decided to contribute their mite to controlling the disease, by establishing the service organisation.
Most patients can be cured of the disease through medication for three to six months but the pricing of the drugs was the issue to be sorted out, Dr. Somasekhar observed.
Vaccination can be an effective remedy for Hepatitis B but affordability is again the question that needs answers.
