War on hepatitis can only be won through public awareness

Though HBV has an effective vaccine and HCV has an antiviral treatment, their coverage and availability in Kenya is low. [Courtesy]

In 2016, deaths caused by viral hepatitis surpassed all chronic infectious diseases including HIV/Aids, malaria and tuberculosis, according to a Global Burden of Disease study.

In Kenya, rising cases of chronic hepatitis B (HBV) in the general population and high infection rates of hepatitis C (HCV) among people who inject drugs (PWIDs) continue to pose great challenges to already strained healthcare delivery systems.