1 in 4 people with hepatitis B know they have the disease – 07/19/2023 – Health

About 1 million people in Brazil live with hepatitis B, but only 264,000 of them have been diagnosed with the disease. The number of those undergoing treatment is even worse: only 41,000 use the recommended prophylaxis for the disease.

The data are estimates released this Wednesday (19) by the Ministry of Health. The folder also presented data on other hepatitis, such as C. For this other type of disease, it is estimated that 520,000 people are infected, but without knowing it and without undergoing treatment.

Both types B and C are silent and therefore diagnosis can be more difficult. The dilemma is that, over time, hepatitis can evolve, leading to cirrhosis, liver cancer and may even be fatal.

Hepatitis B has a vaccine already incorporated into the PNI (National Vaccination Program). In the last five years, there has been a drop of about 32% in mortality caused by this type of disease. Hepatitis B cases also dropped by 36% between 2019 and 2022, but the data are still very recent and may be a remnant of the drop in diagnoses of the Covid-19 pandemic.

“We don’t have much security, which is in fact a real and welcome decrease from a decrease caused by the pandemic and the difficulty of people’s access to diagnoses”, says Dráurio Barreira, director of the Department of HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, Viral Hepatitis and Sexually Transmitted Infections (Dathi).

The disease has no cure, but it can be treated to avoid serious complications. But the low rate of detection and treatment is worrisome. “Only based on knowledge, we can treat”, summarizes Barreira.

Hepatitis C, on the other hand, has no vaccine, but it has treatment that leads to a cure in about 12 weeks. “It’s a highly effective and short treatment,” continues Barreira. However, similarly, the low detection rate is a hindrance.

Ethel Maciel, secretary of Health and Environmental Surveillance (SVSA), says that one way of dealing with the situation is to incorporate hepatitis tests into routine public health consultations. “We need to expand the diagnosis further.”

Hepatitis A data were also released, which had an 88% drop in cases between 2014 and 2022.

Hepatitis D still exists, more restricted to the North region and indigenous communities. In 2022, there were 108 cases of this hepatitis.

Is it possible to delete?

The Ministry of Health has goals for eliminating hepatitis B and C. For the former, the idea is to diagnose 90% of infected people by 2030 – currently, the rate is estimated at 24%.

The treatment of those confirmed with the disease also needs to go up. The objective is that, in 2030, 80% are in treatment, a rate that is currently at 16%. Vaccination coverage would also need to rise to around 95%.

As for hepatitis C, the goal is to treat 95% of those tested for the complication, but the low detection rate of patients is a problem that needs to be overcome. “We expect, in fact, to have an increase in cases from the detection”, says Barreira.