World hepatitis group call for attention

Despite a greater prevalence than HIV/AIDS or any cancer, chronic viral hepatitis has a relatively low profile, according to the organizers of  World Hepatitis Day. An instance of this came recently when the World  Health Organization dropped the issue from its latest World Health  Assembly gathering in Geneva, Switzerland, in order to focus on the  immediate problems posed by the swine influenza crisis (Marketletter May  25).

The World Hepatitis Alliance is calling for more international efforts  to be made to prevent and treat hepatitis B and C, which affect one in  12 people worldwide, with about one million fatalities per year. On May  19, a campaign titled "am I Number 12?" was launched to coincide with  World Hepatitis Day.

The best way to prevent hepatitis B is immunization, which has been an  option since 1982, which the WHA states is "approximately 95%  effective." Unfortunately, many of the countries most affected by the  disease do not have comprehensive vaccination programs for hepatitis B,  especially in the Indian sub-continent and sub-Saharan Africa.