China: 120 million people infected with the hepatitis B virus

Currently, the incidence of hepatitis increases in the rich in China. Almost 1/10 Chinese people are infected with the hepatitis B virus.

(Photo: moh.gov.vn)

Doctors identified a high rate of hepatitis B infection due to increased consumption of alcoholic beverages and animal fat. This has caused hepatitis B to become a "disease of China's rich" , according to Professor Fan Jiangao. And Dr. Yang Binghui thinks that wealth is not the cause, but people lack knowledge about healthy life.

It is estimated that in China there are about 120 million people infected with the hepatitis B virus, accounting for more than half of the total number of people infected with the virus worldwide.

At the end of last week, the Chinese Ministry of Health announced that the ministry was about to conduct a nationwide investigation of the situation of hepatitis B infection. Currently, hepatitis B control is one of the Ministry's top priorities. in infectious disease control program.

Hepatitis B causes a large financial burden for the patient's family. According to the Shanghai Institute of Disease Research study, the cost of treatment for a chronic hepatitis B patient averages about 20,477 yuan (nearly 2,600 USD) per year and the cost is much higher if the patient turns to cirrhosis. and liver cancer. Each year, China's total costs for treating hepatitis B amount to 900 billion yuan (about 112.5 billion dollars).

Minh Thuong