World Hepatitis Day (WHD) is recognized annually on July 28th. It is a commemoration that encourage actions and engagement by individuals, partners and the public and highlight the need for a greater global response on hepatitis. This day commensurate the birthday of Nobel-prize winning scientist Dr Baruch Blumberg who discovered the hepatitis B virus in 1967, and 2 years later he developed the first hepatitis B vaccine.
Organizations around the world, including the World Health Organization (WHO) and Centre of Disease Control (CDC), commemorate WHD to raise awareness about viral hepatitis, which impacts more than 354 million people worldwide. WHD creates an opportunity to educate people about the burden of these infections, CDC’s efforts to combat viral hepatitis around the world, and actions people can take to prevent these infections.
Viral hepatitis, is a group of infectious diseases known as hepatitis A,B, and E, and it affects millions of people worldwide, causing both acute (short-term) and chronic (long-term) liver disease. Viral hepatitis causes more than one million deaths each year.
With a person dying every 30 seconds from a hepatitis related illness even in the current COVID-19 crisis, we Visions for Nigeria Foundation stand together with this year’s theme in saying “we can’t wait” to act on viral hepatitis cases.
