Geneva, Switzerland — Marking World Hepatitis Day, the European Association for the Study of the Liver (EASL) called on the different organizations which make up the United Nations systems to take action to fight against Viral Hepatitis (Hepatitis B and C), a potentially fatal infection of the liver which affects 500 million people.

Viral hepatitis is the cause of death of over one million people a year and, around the world, one in every three people has been exposed to either the Hepatitis B virus or the Hepatitis C virus. Even more worrying, those infected do not know this and for them the first indication of infection can be the development of liver cancer or liver failure.

EASL acknowledges the progress made in recent years, including the establishment of WHO’s Global Hepatitis Programme and welcomes the recent publication of the WHO strategy to prevent and control viral hepatitis infection. However, Professor Mark Thursz, EASL Secretary General, noted that “viral hepatitis needs to be recognised as a serious threat in its own right and measures need to be taken to prevent those not yet infected from becoming infected and to ensure treatment is made available for those who are infected.”

EASL laments the impact of the exclusive emphasis on HIV, TB and malaria in policies arising from the Millennium Development Goals. As part of the work he has recently been conducting in Africa, Prof. Thursz met a patient who told him “If I don’t catch HIV soon I’ll die.” Life saving antiviral medications which work against both HIV and HBV are provided by the Global Fund for patients with HIV but denied for patients with HBV.

Prof. Thursz remarked that “Continuing to ignore viral hepatitis is discriminating and will compromise achievements in sustainable development. UNDP should give viral hepatitis the same priority as HIV, TB and malaria.”

Prof. Markus Peck-Radosavljevic, EASL’s Vice-Secretary, noted, “Viral hepatitis is a global issue. We need WHO to take a more active role in setting standards to control the transmission of infection through medical interventions and blood products. It will be difficult to address the epidemic effectively until WHO establish screening and surveillance protocols in every region.”

EASL is the leading liver association in Europe. EASL attracts the foremost hepatology experts as members and has an impressive track record in promoting research in liver disease, supporting wider education, and promoting changes in European liver policy.

EASL believes the EU has a key role to play in raising awareness of liver disease in Europe, increasing additional funding for research, setting standards and guidelines for the prevention, diagnosis, treatment and care of liver disease across the EU and encouraging member states to make liver disease a public health and research priority.

For more information please visit http://www.easl.eu/

About Liver Disease

Liver disease, estimated to affect 6% of the EU population (approx. 29 million people), is reported to be the EU’s 5th biggest killer, accounting for at least one in six deaths. In 2004, the mortality rate for chronic liver diseases was estimated at 14.3 per 100.000 in the EU-25.

This means that more than 70,000 Europeans are dying from chronic liver disease every year. Even more worrying is the fact that the EU statistics do not cover all diseases of the liver in one category, e.g. alcohol abuse related deaths and liver cancer are treated separately. Therefore, the actual rate of deaths from liver disease is certainly much higher than the statistics suggest.

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.

Image Courtesy of  Asianet-Pakistan / Shutterstock.com

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Merck (known as MSD outside the United States and Canada) announced that three-time Grammy award-winning Cuban-American recording artist and songwriter Jon Secada is adding his voice to the Tune In to Hep C public health campaign to help raise awareness of chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection.

Secada revealed for the first time that his father recently passed away from complications associated with chronic HCV infection, a disease that disproportionately affects the Hispanic community. He hopes that sharing his family’s personal experience through this bilingual awareness campaign will activate Hispanic Americans with chronic HCV to take action and speak to their doctors about their options.

Secada joins Merck, the American Liver Foundation (ALF) and fellow Grammy winners Gregg Allman of The Allman Brothers Band and Natalie Cole on the Tune In to Hep C initiative, which Merck and ALF launched last year.

Chronic HCV is a viral infection of the liver that is potentially serious and can damage the liver over time and lead to cirrhosis, end-stage liver disease and liver cancer. Of the approximately 3.2 million Americans who have chronic HCV, an estimated one million are Hispanic.

Research has shown that complications due to chronic HCV develop more quickly and result in more health issues in Hispanics when compared to other ethnic groups, especially considering many people infected with chronic HCV, Hispanic or non-Hispanic, do not know that they have the virus – approximately 70 to 80 percent of people newly infected with the virus do not have symptoms.

“My father chose not to tell anyone about his disease for a long time, and he chose not to take action against it for reasons I may never understand. Before he passed away, he told me that he wanted me to share his story to help other people like him who have chronic hepatitis C but aren’t taking action,” said Secada, who was unaware of his father’s diagnosis for more than a decade.

“You can’t be silent with a silent disease that has consequences like chronic hepatitis C — you need to talk to your doctor and talk to your family. Take it from me, the people who love you want to be there to help you, and want you to be there for them.”

The American Liver Foundation partnered with Merck on the Tune In to Hep C campaign to help address barriers that can keep people from managing their disease, including lack of awareness and social stigma.  The American Liver Foundation is a national organization advocating for those living with liver disease and their families, and provides education, support and research for the prevention, treatment and cure of liver disease.

“Chronic hepatitis C disproportionately affects the Hispanic community but, unfortunately, there is stigma and low awareness of the disease and its potential complications, so it is not widely discussed among Hispanics in the U.S.,” said Newton Guerin, president and chief executive officer, American Liver Foundation. “We hope Jon’s desire to turn his family’s loss into a positive message for those who face this disease will encourage them to take action.”

“For more than 30 years, Merck has been committed to fighting chronic HCV. That commitment extends beyond science and is part of our overall mission to help people around the world be well,” said Mark Timney, president, Global Human Health – U.S. Market, Merck.  ”We believe Jon’s message is an important one that will motivate Hispanic Americans with hepatitis C to take action and speak with their doctors, and we applaud him for his efforts in this campaign.”

Image Courtesy of   https://www.facebook.com/jonsecada

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Experts at Montefiore Medical Center urge the general public to be tested for the Hepatitis C virus, especially baby boomers, adults born between 1946-1964, who could be most at risk for this disease. Baby boomers are more likely to have been exposed to dangerous risk factors decades ago, such as sharing a drug needle, being tattooed or pierced with unsterilized tools or receiving a tainted blood transfusion.

The disease often has no symptoms, and if untreated, can lead to chronic infection that can scar the liver, cause liver failure or cancer and potentially lead to liver transplantation.

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is the most common chronic blood borne infection in the United States, with 35,000 to 185,000 new cases diagnosed per year. Worldwide, 180 million people are chronically infected with Hepatitis C, with an estimated 3-4 million new cases reported each year. The disease particularly affects minorities, Hispanics, Asian-Americans and African-Americans.

“This disease has grown to epidemic proportions, with 350,000 people around the world dying from Hepatitis C-related liver disease,” said Milan Kinkhabwala, MD, Chief, Division of Transplantation at the Montefiore Einstein Center for Transplantation. “But it is called the ‘silent killer’ because many people don’t even know they have it.

This condition can be asymptomatic for decades and then present itself when it has already severely damaged the liver.” Individuals at risk can get a simple blood test to detect the virus before chronic infection leads to permanent liver damage. The Montefiore Medical Center Comprehensive Liver Disease Program offers simple and effective screenings.

It is recommended that individuals talk to their primary care physician or contact 888-RX-LIVER (888-795-4837) for more information or to set up an appointment for a screening. ”This is a revolutionary time in the treatment of the disease and there is more hope than ever before,” said Dr. Kinkhabwala. “The blood test is essential to detecting Hepatitis C, because now there are ways to treat the condition, and even reverse damage to the liver.”

Two new anti-viral oral medications, boceprevir and teleprevir, received FDA approval in May 2011. Both drugs work by blocking an enzyme that helps the virus reproduce. The drugs are intended to improve on standard treatments using the injected drug pegylated interferon alpha and the pill rivavrin.

“So far, the new drugs have shown promise in clearing the virus from the body and almost doubling the cure rate of the disease,” said Allan Wolkoff, MD, Professor of Medicine and of Anatomy and Structural Biology at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University and Chief of the Division of Gastroenterology and Liver Diseases at Montefiore and Einstein.

“Another key benefit is that they cut treatment time in half, thus reducing the time the patient has to endure the severe side effects, which include anemia, depression and flu-like symptoms like fatigue, fever and headache.”

When symptoms do occur after the disease has progressed, they’re generally mild and flu-like and may include fatigue, fever, nausea or poor appetite, muscle and joint pain, bruising, abdominal pain, jaundice and itching. At that point, chronic infection can lead to scarring of the liver (fibrosis) and then advanced scarring (cirrhosis).

Scarring of the liver makes it difficult for the liver to function properly and can be devastating to the rest of the body, often causing liver failure or liver cancer. If the liver disease progresses too far and the medications are not effective, then transplantation is the last resort. However, more than 16,000 people in the United States are currently waiting for a liver donor, and in New York State, there are 1,700 patients on the waiting list.

Factors that have been reported to accelerate the rate of HCV disease progression include age, gender (males have more rapid disease progression than females), alcohol consumption, HIV coinfection (approximately 35% of patients) and fatty liver (the presence of fat in liver cells caused by obesity).

Unlike Hepatitis B, there is no vaccine to prevent this disease. While the symptoms are similar, distinct differences exist between the two viruses. Hepatitis B is primarily transmitted through sexual intercourse and is less severe. Dr. Kinkhabwala will be available for a live twitter chat to answer questions about Hepatitis C and liver disease on December 8, 2011 at noon. Follow @MontefioreNews to discuss #MonteHepC.

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