Bhubaneswar: With Hepatitis ‘B’ and Hepatitis ‘C’ emerging as a major health problem in the state, Odisha government declared them as notifiable diseases with immediate effect. In a statement on Friday (August 4), the state health and family welfare department asked all healthcare facilities to take immediate steps for notification of Hepatitis (Hepatitis-B and Hepatitis-C) cases at the earliest. The notification said,
In exercise of the powers conferred under Section (2) (1) of the Epidemic Disease Act-1897, the government prescribed in the notification that all healthcare providers (Govt/Private/ NGO sector) where diagnosis, tests and treatment of patients is undertaken shall have to take adequate steps for timely notification of Hepatitis-B and Hepatitis-C diseases (screened or confirmed) to the district surveillance officers and state surveillance officer.
The state government said chronic Hepatitis-B and Hepatitis-C cases are major public health concerns accounting for substantial morbidity, mortality and economic loss in Odisha. These two are blood-borne and transmissible viral diseases, officials said.
While Hepatitis-C is curable if treated on time for three months, Hepatitis-B requires lifelong treatment, the notification said, adding that both the diseases can give rise to liver damage and hepato-cellular carcinoma (liver cancer) if they remain undiagnosed and untreated.
The state government said it is determined to bring down the Hepatitis infectivity and case load to elimination level in a time-bound manner.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
NDTV – Dettol have been working towards a clean and healthy India since 2014 via the Banega Swachh India initiative, which is helmed by Campaign Ambassador Amitabh Bachchan. The campaign aims to highlight the inter-dependency of humans and the environment, and of humans on one another with the focus on One Health, One Planet, One Future – Leaving No One Behind. It stresses on the need to take care of, and consider, everyone’s health in India – especially vulnerable communities – theLGBTQ population,indigenous people, India’s different tribes, ethnic and linguistic minorities, people with disabilities, migrants, geographically remote populations, gender and sexual minorities. In wake of the currentCOVID-19 pandemic, the need for WASH (Water,SanitationandHygiene) is reaffirmed as handwashing is one of the ways to prevent Coronavirus infection and other diseases. The campaign will continue to raise awareness on the same along with focussing on the importance of nutrition and healthcare for women and children, fightmalnutrition, mental wellbeing, self care, science and health,adolescent health & gender awareness. Along with the health of people, the campaign has realised the need to also take care of the health of the eco-system. Our environment is fragile due to human activity, which is not only over-exploiting available resources, but also generating immense pollution as a result of using and extracting those resources. The imbalance has also led to immense biodiversity loss that has caused one of the biggest threats to human survival – climate change. It has now been described as a “code red for humanity.” The campaign will continue to cover issues likeair pollution,waste management,plastic ban,manual scavengingand sanitation workers andmenstrual hygiene. Banega Swasth India will also be taking forward the dream of Swasth Bharat, the campaign feels that only a Swachh or clean India wheretoiletsare used andopen defecation free (ODF)status achieved as part of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan launched byPrime Minister Narendra Modiin 2014, can eradicate diseases like diahorrea and the country can become a Swasth or healthy India.
