PAHO/WHO Guyana urges action against Hepatitis threat

In light of this year’s World Hepatitis Day, commemorated last Sunday, the World Health Organisation (WHO) is urging governments to act on the hepatitis threat.
Infectious Hepatitis is caused by a group of five hepatitis viruses, namely A, B, C, D and E, and is known to cause severe liver infections; namely liver cirrhosis and cancer; and lead to 1.4 million deaths every year.
For worldwide reference, the Organisation has released its first Hepatitis survey, covering 126 countries. According to the findings, 37% of the countries have national strategies for viral Hepatitis; however more work is needed in treating the virus. The survey also highlights that while 82% of the countries have established Hepatitis surveillance programmes, only half of them facilitate monitoring of the disease’s most chronic (life-long) types which are responsible for severe illnesses and deaths.
Viral Hepatitis has also been identified as a ‘silent epidemic’ since most persons do not realise that they are infected. The Organisation informed that many countries are only now realising the magnitude of the disease burden and devising ways to address it.
This has likely prompted the WHO, this year, to launch a Global Hepatitis Network which aims to support countries with planning and implementation of viral hepatitis plans and programmes.
According to the Organisation, the complexity of the Hepatitis disease lies in the existence of its different types.
Hepatitis A and E are food- and water-borne infections which cause millions of cases of acute illnesses every year, sometimes with several months needed for a person to fully recover.
Hepatitis B, C and D are spread by infected body fluids including blood, by sexual contact, mother-to-child transmission during birth, or by contaminated medical equipment and improper handling and disposal of waste from health care facilities.
According to estimates provided by the Health Organisation, unsafe medical injections account for 39% of new Hepatitis B infections, 40% of new hepatitis C infections and 5.4% of new HIV infections globally each year.
While vaccines are available to prevent types of the virus, particularly types A and B, WHO identified several methods which, if practiced, assured a decline in the rampant spread of the disease. These include screening of blood donors, assuring clean needles and syringes and condom use to prevent blood-borne and sexual transmission.
On a national level, research in Guyana has shown that one in seven nurses suffered a needle stick injury, while waste workers had nearly double chances of such injuries. A survey revealed that one-third of the workers did not report the incident and thus did not receive any follow up on the injury.
In ensuring efforts to resist the spread of the disease, the Pan American Health Organisation/World Health Organisation (PAHO/WHO) in Guyana has been collaborating with the Ministry of Health, with the recently terminated Guyana Safe Injection Project (GSIP) in the safe disposal of medical waste. Information received by the organisation has shown that proper management of medical waste will not only reduce the spread of Hepatitis, but also HIV/AIDS.
Further, the installation and operation of the Hydroclave at the GPHC has been reported by PAHO as a significant improvement for destruction of medical waste in Georgetown. The expanded incinerator, installed in the West Demerara (Region 3), Suddie (Region 2) and Linden (Region 10) hospitals, was noted as being capable of destroying other medical waste.
Currently, PAHO/WHO is conducting a countrywide assessment of the generation and management of waste from all health facilities in order to develop a 10-year plan for the proper management and destruction of medical waste. This plan will include protocols as well as recommended technologies.