Cases of Hepatitis-caused Jaundice increase in Afghanistan: Taliban

Kabul [Afghanistan], August 4 (ANI): Taliban appointed deputy minister of health services supply of Afghanistan Habibullah Akhundzada Hamed on Wednesday said jaundice cases have increased in Afghanistan in 2023, TOLO News reported. 

TOLO News is an Afghan news channel broadcasting from Kabul. 

Akhundzada Hamed said basic work has not been done to fight jaundice in the country, which can be caused by hepatitis. 

Akhundzada Hamed said: “From 2017 to June 2023, 44,647 people were infected with hepatitis B and 21,621 were infected with hepatitis C.”

“For hepatitis B and C patients, PCR examinations have been provided in six provinces including Kabul, Kandahar, Paktia, Herat, Balkh, and Nangarhar,” said Taliban appointed head of infectious disease control at the  Ministry of Public Health, Bismillah, according to TOLO News.

As per statistics, in 2020, 8,155 people, in 2021, 7,655 people, in 2022, 8,343 people, and so far in 2023, 8,779 people have been infected with a form of jaundice.

An official of the Taliban’s Public Health Ministry, Agha Mohammad Abid Tutakhil, said: “Currently, 95 per cent of people can be treated with antiviral drugs, but until now there is no effective vaccine against this disease or hepatitis C.”

“The price of hepatitis B and hepatitis C drugs has decreased by 90 per cent, and now the cost of treating one hepatitis C is only 60 dollars,” said Reza Al-Wadal, a representative of the World Health Organization in Afghanistan, as per TOLO News.

Based on the information of the Secretary General of the World Health Organization, jaundice kills one million people in the world every year and three million new cases are registered in the world every year.