Syrian Arab News Agency S A N A
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Damascus, SANA- Health Minister Dr. Nizar Yazigi affirmed the ministry’s commitment to pay attention to the epidemiological surveillance of hepatitis and other contiguous diseases through following up on the application of sanitary conditions.
During a seminar on the occasion of the World Hepatitis Day, Yazigi pointed out the importance of enhancing efforts to preserve public health and disease prevention, especially that the latest statistics of the World Health Organization (WHO) indicate that the Eastern Mediterranean Region is the hardest hit in the world by hepatitis.
“The ministry is providing medicine for all contiguous diseases including hepatitis through its health centers in all provinces and for free despite of challenges it faces” the minister said.
For their part, participants in the seminar stressed on the need of focusing attention on raising awareness about the importance of following health rules, adding that the National Vaccine Program in Syria immunizes children against hepatitis.
They called for establishing a liver transplant center in Syria where all conditions for its success are available.
Hepatitis is an inflammation of the liver, most commonly caused by a viral infection. There are five main hepatitis viruses, referred to as types A, B, C, D and E. These five types are of greatest concern because of the burden of illness and death they cause and the potential for outbreaks and epidemic spread.
In particular, types B and C lead to chronic disease in hundreds of millions of people and, together, are the most common cause of liver cirrhosis and cancer.
Manar al-Frieh/Manal
