Why you should get screened for Hepatitis C

If there is something worse than HIV, then it is Hepatitis type C. Hepatitis C is caused by a virus and normally attacks the liver — that part of the human body in the abdomen or tummy (for some). The liver processes every single dose of alcohol, and some medications. Although the disease has just come to the attention of many only a few years ago, it was first isolated from human blood in 1989, putting it among the most recently discovered viruses. What makes HIV and Hepatitis similar is the fact that they are both transmitted through the same ways — pricking oneself with sharp instruments like needles, sexual promiscuity and mother-to-child transmission. However, one thing makes Hepatitis C worse than HIV: silence. A Hepatitis patient may spend between 2 weeks and 6 months with the virus without any sign of discomfort. It is only after the eyes have turned yellow and many non-specific signs emerged that one begins to sense that something could be wrong. Usually 8 out of 10 patients start developing chronicity after two months. The so much feared liver cancer and cirrhosis — as it would be with an alcoholic — are invited to the dance and there is no chance of return. The fate of those is really determined by their immunity systems, as it is now known that the virus can be cleared, but rarely by a strong human defense. HIV was greatly taken care of, as it started quite earlier with a higher spread, but its new cousin (Hepatitis), slowly but surely made ravages. It is estimated that Hepatitis claims close to half a million deaths worldwide. It is a death sentence, as so far, no vaccine has been found yet, opposite to the B type of hepatitis. Antiviral drugs are said to heal close to 90 percent of cases. The curious part of this article, however, is the pricing of the antiviral drugs that are available on the market. The antiviral drugs to Hepatitis C, work as a dismantler, basically getting into the viral genome (call it DNA) and reversing its growth trend. They work as a combination, and they take time. Real time, 48 weeks, close to a full year, with weekly injections. The combinations that are available locally are of Ribavirin and Interferon Alpha. And the price tag per session, every week is close to 300 US dollars at a hospital in Kigali. New advances have made the treatment shorter, but more expensive. The Direct Antiviral Agents (DAA) are now used, for 12 weeks only, but growing reports complain of its difficult access across the globe. For those who can still afford but had issues with its screening at first have gone ahead and had surgeries to replace their livers. This unfortunately has not been yet practiced in Rwanda. For public health concerns and strong systems built for HIV, the medications that are taken for life are given for free in the country. This, along with the prevention, screening and surveillance measures taken, the new HIV cases are getting fewer, according to recent data from the national health observatory RBC. But Hepatitis C, which is taken first as a communicable (infecting) disease, can later on bring confusing signs, suggesting non communicable diseases, cancer included. It is decimating all over, and many die out of ignorance, and sadly, the inaccessibility to healthcare options. It takes a multi sectorial approach, with the same systems that helped tame the spread of HIV/AIDS, to get rid of that deadly evil that is Hepatitis C. Groups at risk, as it is with HIV, are the same for Hepatitis. The same should get screened, at the same time. And, with the guarantees of full recovery after the available injections, how about dreaming big and avail the medications for free or affordable prices to everyone? Before it decimates everyone, get screened today.

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Why you should get screened for Hepatitis C