Govt, NGOs unite to fight health crises

• Source: Global Times
• [04:41 October 13 2009]
• Comments

Illustration: Liu Rui

By Rose Helin

Last Saturday, Deng Huahai, spokesman for the Ministry of Health, said that it wouldn't threaten public health if the hepatitis B testing requirements for students and workers were lifted.

In the battle against hepatitis B, and related discrimination, however, the government needs all the help it can get.

Hepatitis B, a viral infection causing inflammation of the liver, is a significant public health issue in China, in which an estimated over 120 million people, representing 10 percent of the nation's total population and one-third of all cases worldwide, are virus carriers.

Contrary to popular belief, most were either infected at birth or during immunization campaigns in the latter half of the 20th century before the risk of transmission from reusing needles was widely recognized, and not through contact as an adult.

Compounding the impact of the disease itself, carriers of hepatitis B also face widespread discrimination from a wary public misinformed about the real nature of the risks associated with the disease.