KHUJAND, November 18, 2008, Asia-Plus — The first consignment of medicines for free treatment of 20 persons suffering from chronic hepatitis was delivered to northern Tajikistan yesterday, Sharif Rajabov, head physician of the Sughd regional infectious diseases hospital, told Asia-Plus on Tuesday.
“This consignment worth some US$6,000 has been provided by the Ministry of Health (MoH),” said Rajabov, “Patient undergoes treatment for six months at the rate of one injection per week or month depending on medicine.”
“At present 70 persons are undergoing medical treatment for hepatitis and five of them will take the delivered medicines,” the head physician said, noting that it was the first consignment and in case of necessity additional medicines would be provided.
Hepatitis C is a blood-borne infectious disease that is caused by the hepatitis C virus (HCV), affecting the liver. The infection is often asymptomatic, but once established, chronic infection can cause inflammation of the liver (chronic hepatitis). This condition can progress to scarring of the liver (fibrosis), and advanced scarring (cirrhosis). In some cases, those with cirrhosis will go on to develop liver failure or other complications of cirrhosis, including liver cancer.
The hepatitis C virus (HCV) is spread by blood-to-blood contact. No vaccine against hepatitis C is available. The symptoms of infection can be medically managed, and a proportion of patients can be cleared of the virus by a course of anti-viral medicines. Although early medical intervention is helpful, people with HCV infection can experience mild symptoms, and consequently do not seek treatment. An estimated 150-200 million people worldwide are infected with hepatitis C.
