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Hepatitis B deaths raise alarm in Dhaka
Dhaka |By A Correspondent | 21-12-2002 Print friendly format | Email to Friend About 150,000 newborns are infected with Hepatitis B annually and some 20,000 to 23,000 die every year. Health and Family Welfare Minister Khandakar Mosharraf Hossain revealed the shocking figures while inaugurating an international symposium on Thursday. The Association for the Study of the Liver, Bangladesh (ASLDB) organised the Fifth International Symposium on Liver Disease. Some 900 specialists from Bangladesh, the UK, Australia, Thailand, Hong Kong and Japan participated in the day-long symposium. The minister said the situation might deteriorate "unless effective steps are taken immediately" as 7.5 per cent of the the country's population carry the hepatitis B virus. Stressing that government and private initiatives are needed, Prof M.A. Hadi, Vice-Chancellor of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University, said one in every 10 patients admitted suffers from liver diseases. Though Hepatitis B is preventable through vaccination, medical facilities for its treatment are pathetically insufficient in government hospitals. The only specialised Liver Department in Dhaka cannot accommodate a huge number of patients, and facilities have to be expanded. |
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