Less than one percent of people in Kyrgyzstan know that they have hepatitis B. The head of the Republican Scientific and Practical Center for Control of Viral Infections Zuridin Nurmatov told at a press conference.
According to him, it is necessary to raise the level of awareness of the population about their diagnosis.
«The more people know, the sooner their treatment will begin. When a person becomes infected with hepatitis B or C, he or she has no symptoms, nothing hurts, since there are no nerve cells in the liver. Until the function of this organ is disrupted, a person may not know that he or she is infected,» he said.
Zuridin Nurmatov added that the main factor in the fight against the incidence of hepatitis B was vaccination. Kyrgyzstan has launched a campaign to vaccinate the adult population against this disease.
According to the Deputy Minister of Health Bubuzhan Arykbayeva, a list of categories of the population that are to be vaccinated in the first place has been approved. In particular, these are healthcare workers, people who often need blood transfusions, dialysis patients, cancer, tuberculosis, hemophilia patients, and people living with HIV.
She added that it was planned to vaccinate everyone who wants in the future.
