Iran succeeds in controlling hepatitis

Tehran, April 28, IRNA - Iran has succeeded in controlling hepatitis B and C in recent years and the incidence rate is better than those in neighboring countries, the head of Iran Hepatitis Network announced recently. Seyyed Moayed Alavian made the above statement on the sidelines of a two-day conference on Blood Borne Diseases in Shiraz, adding that immense progress has been made to prevent and treat hepatitis B and C in the country and the world. Hepatitis B was quite widespread in the country over the last 40 years but with the implementation of vaccination plans for newborns in 1994, growth of public awareness and reduction of different ways of transmission, the rate has declined to below two percent, he noted. There are around 1.4m hepatitis B patients in Iran who are undergoing diagnosis and treatment, Alavian said. Hepatitis C has been also been brought under control in Iran since 1996 and its frequency rate has decreased to 0.5 percent. Given the country’s population, Alavian added that hepatitis C incidence rate is very low and favorable. Hepatitis C, which mostly prevails in addicts injecting drugs, dialysis, hemophilia and thalassemia patients, can be prevented by ˈstopping transmission of the disease among high-risk addicts through social, educational and treatment plans,ˈ he said. Alavian noted that the frequency rate for hepatitis C in dialysis centers has declined from 15 percent to below five percent, noting that the rate for hemophilia and thalassemia patients is under 20 percent and 10 percent respectively. Fars province has the lowest frequency rate for hepatitis B and C with less than two percent and 0.5 percent respectively, Alavian concluded. Hepatitis is the general name for different diseases that cause inflammation of the liver.There are several types of viral hepatitis, A,B,C and D. end