Sabah has highest Hepatitis B cases
Published on: Sunday, August 07, 2016
Kota Kinabalu: Sabah has the highest number of Hepatitis B cases in the country with 1,168 cases, accounting for a rate of 33.51 cases for every 100,000 people in 2014 but it is Hepatitis C which has got the Health Ministry worried. According to Minister Datuk Seri Dr S. Subramaniam, while Hepatitis B already saw a vaccination programme launched in 1989, the prevalence of Hepatitis C stood at 2.3 per cent or 300,000 of the adult population in Malaysia. "The cause of the infection is through the sharing of syringe needles while taking drugs," he said.
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His speech was read by Deputy Director (Disease Control) Dr Chong Chee Keong, Saturday, in conjunction with the launching of the national-level World Hepatitis Day, here. He said the disease spread much easier between spouses and those in an intimate relationship with HIV patients, adding that the number of cases is high among those aged 26 to 55 who are most productive and the backbone of the country's economy. Dr Subramaniam said treatment of Hepatitis C involves a regime of weekly injections and medication lasting six months, which could cost a whopping RM72,000 a patient. A breakthrough in recent technology of such treatment, however, has shortened the process to six to 12 weeks but the cost could hit RM320,000 a patient, he pointed out.
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Towards this end, Dr Subramaniam said prevention is much better that cure, saying Malaysians need to change to a healthy lifestyle and stay away from high-risk activities. There are five types of virus that cause Hepatitis A, B, C, D and E and all of them infect the heart, while A and E can be spread through food, drinks and faeces.
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The deadly hepatitis diseases are B and C which is estimated to infect 400 million people worldwide and cause the death of 1.4 million people each year. Dr Subramaniam said the notification rate of Hepatitis B dropped to 12.65 people for every 100,000 people last year from 12.95 in 2014, taking the number of cases to 3,855 from 3,896 respectively. Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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