Africa-Press – Mauritius. In the context of World Hepatitis Day 2022, observed annually on 28 July, the Minister of Health and Wellness, Dr Kailesh Kumar Singh Jagutpal, visited, this afternoon, the Centre for Gastroenterology and Hepatology at Dr Abdool Gafoor Jeetoo Hospital in Port Louis.
He was accompanied by a delegation from Rodrigues, headed by the Commissioner responsible for Health, Mr Jean Nicolas Volbert. Hepatitis is an inflammation of the liver.
There are five main types of the Hepatitis virus – A, B, C, D and E. Hepatitis B and C lead to chronic disease and can cause liver cirrhosis, liver cancer and viral Hepatitis-related deaths. In Mauritius, Hepatitis C is more prevalent than Hepatitis B.
Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection occurs namely through exposure to blood from unsafe injection practices, unsafe health care, unscreened blood transfusions, injection drug use and sexual practices.
During the visit at the Centre for Gastroenterology and Hepatology, the Chairperson for the National Committee for viral Hepatitis, Dr Zaid Heetun, explained to Minister Jagutpal the Protocols regarding the detection and treatment of patients.
He apprised that once people living with Hepatitis B had been diagnosed with test results available in one week, the patients then received the three-month treatment within a two-week period.
Dr Heetun indicated that the database currently contained the information of some 4,403 people living with Hepatitis C, out of whom 1,700 patients had been treated.
He said that 700 patients were cured completely and the remaining 1,000 were awaiting the final result of their test, which would be effected three months after the completion of treatment.
In a statement after the visit, Dr Jagutpal highlighted the initiatives undertaken to achieve the target proposed by the World Health Organisation of eliminating viral Hepatitis as a public health problem by 2030.
These comprised the elimination of HCV infection in haemodialysis patients in Mauritius; the creation of a national Hepatitis C database for a more effective follow-up of patients; the decentralisation of treatment services for HCV infection; and the provision of treatment to HCV-infected inmates in various prisons.
The Health Minister highlighted the collaboration with non-governmental organisations to increase the detection and treatment of HCV among injecting drug users where the diagnosis of HCV infection remained a challenge.
According to Dr Jagutpal, while the country was well on the way of reaching the goal of eliminating viral Hepatitis by 2030, new objectives like the elimination of Hepatitis among methadone patients and inmates had still to be set.
Moreover, the Minister recalled the donation, by Gilead Sciences UK, of Hepatitis C medication to Mauritius in 2019 for the treatment of some 3,000 patients, as part of global programme to eliminate Hepatitis C. He added that the Government would collaborate further with Gilead Sciences UK for the procurement of additional medication.
For More News And Analysis About Mauritius Follow Africa-Press
