PHILIPPINES IS ONE WITH HIGH CASES OF HEPATITIS GLOBALLY

The Department of Health continues to encourage parents to vaccinate their children against various types of diseases. This follows the report of the World Health Organization (WHO) that thousands of people die every day due to hepatitis, including the Philippines with high cases.

Hepatitis B and C in the country (Photo courtesy of Niño Jesus Orbeta/Inquirer)

5.7 million Filipinos were infected by hepatitis B while 400,000 had hepatitis C in 2022. This number is enough for the Philippines to be included in the list of countries with high cases of the disease based on the latest global hepatitis report by WHO.

The increasing number of people who die from viral hepatitis in the rest of the world is alarming. In just three years, it increased by 200,000 from 2019 to 2022. And 1.3 million deaths in 2022 is equivalent to 3,500 deaths per day.

Human liver is affected by hepatitis, it is transmitted through body fluids such as blood and semen. Among the symptoms of hepatitis B are fatigue, lack of appetite, stomach pain, dizziness, and jaundice, hepatitis B and C are dangerous.

Liver cancer can be caused by hepatitis B, hepatitis C does not have a vaccine but hepatitis B does. This includes the pentavalent 5-in-1 vaccine that provides protection against influenza, diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis in the first vaccine given to children.

Secretary Teodoro Herbosa said that Philippines remained with low immunization rate against these diseases. The country is number four in the world with the highest percentage of zero dose children who have not yet received any vaccine.

For the mean time so that the supply of the vaccine won’t lack, the DOH will purchased DTP vaccine while waiting for the 3 million pentavalent vaccines that are expected to arrive in the middle of the year.

Source: Dexter Cabalza/Philippine Daily Inquirer

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