The burden of hepatitis in Vietnam
According to the World Health Organization (WHO)'s Global Hepatitis Report 2024 (WHO), the number of deaths from viral hepatitis is increasing. This is the second leading cause of infectious deaths globally - with 1.3 million deaths each year, on par with tuberculosis, one of the leading causes of death from infectious diseases.
In Vietnam, according to Dr. Nguyen Van Tuan - Deputy Head of the Department of Hepatitis, Central Hospital for Tropical Diseases, there are currently about 8 million people living with hepatitis B (accounting for 8% of the population) and nearly 3% of the population infected with hepatitis C. This is the reason why Vietnam is one of the countries in the group with a high rate of people with hepatitis.
In this situation, WHO has issued a global plan to eliminate hepatitis B by 2030. This plan includes goals of boosting immunity for children and mothers as well as improving screening and treatment...
Dr. Nguyen Van Tuan commented that the goal of ending hepatitis by 2030 is extremely meaningful and humane, but to achieve this plan, there needs to be synchronous preparation from health resources, policies and the cooperation of the community.
Vietnam currently has advantages in treatment knowledge and appropriate drug costs, but there are still many barriers in communication and treatment access, Dr. Tuan shared.
Currently, many people do not fully understand the ways of liver inflammation transmission, and have not proactively tested and screened. The rate of hepatitis B vaccination for infants in the first 24 hours has not yet reached the target in many localities.
Although medicine has made a lot of progress, only about 20% of people infected with hepatitis B and C are detected at an early stage. The majority of the rest are only diagnosed when the disease has become severe, causing cirrhosis or liver cancer.
Late detection makes treatment difficult
Dr. Nguyen Van Tuan said that the reason why many cases of hepatitis are severe is due to patients lacking awareness of the source of infection, not knowing that they are in the high-risk group and the fear of being criticized by society. Late detection makes the treatment process complicated, expensive and low-effective.
A typical example is the case of Ms. D.T.C (65 years old) in Ninh Binh. From around February and March this year, Ms. C began to show signs of fatigue, eating erratically but was subjective, not going to the doctor. It was only when she saw her skin turn yellow that she went to the hospital and was diagnosed with hepatitis B.
After a period of inpatient treatment, Ms. C was allowed to return home for monitoring and was scheduled to return for a follow-up exam after a month. However, due to their children's busy work, the follow-up check-up schedule was delayed. When she returned to the hospital, the doctors asked her to be hospitalized again for treatment.
According to Dr. Nguyen Van Tuan - Deputy Head of the Department of Hepatitis, Central Hospital for Tropical Diseases, Ms. C is a typical case of late-stage hepatitis because she has shown signs of jaundice, bloating, and gastrointestinal bleeding.
According to Dr. Tuan, treatment of hepatitis B often lasts for a lifetime, so before starting, the doctor always spends a lot of time consulting patients carefully. However, due to the long treatment process, many people are likely to stop taking medication halfway or seek unofficial methods, leading to acute liver failure, coma and loss of the opportunity to get a liver transplant.
To aim for the goal of ending hepatitis by 2030, Dr. Nguyen Van Tuan - Deputy Head of the Department of Hepatitis, Central Hospital for Tropical Diseases - emphasized that it is necessary to synchronously deploy solutions: fully vaccinated against hepatitis B, especially in the first 24 hours after giving birth; periodic screening for high-risk groups; safe sex; do not use all health items that have not been sterilized...
In addition, communication plays a key role in reducing discrimination, helping people understand the disease correctly and proactively prevent it. Along with that, there should be a policy to support treatment costs so that patients can confidently follow the long-term regimen.
