By Martin Banks - 3rd March 2009
If policy makers want to lower tomorrow’s mortality and morbidity rates, they have to act today
Alojz Peterle
Slovenian MEP Alojz Peterle has thrown his weight behind calls for early diagnosis for those at risk from hepatitis.
Speaking in parliament, the centre-right deputy accused member states of "inertia" in their efforts to tackle the condition.
He said, "Hepatitis represents one of the major challenges for public health in Europe.
"If policy makers want to lower tomorrow's mortality and morbidity rates, they have to act today," added Peterle, who has survived a cancer scare.
His comments came at the presentation of the findings of a survey to gauge the political commitment to combat hepatitis in Europe.
The study, by the European liver patients association (ELPA), reveals that hepatitis awareness amongst national policymakers and the general public is very low.
In view of this "ignorance and neglect of a major disease" ELPA has called on the EU to promote targeted screening strategies to ensure early diagnosis for those at risk.
The event in parliament on Monday was told that current estimates indicate that in the EU 14 million people have chronic hepatitis B, while approximately nine million are infected with the hepatitis C virus.
Up to 90 per cent of hepatitis patients are unaware of their infections.
The study also found that in Austria, only nine per cent of newly diagnosed hepatitis C patients were aware of the disease and only three per cent realised that they were at risk once they had been diagnosed.
It says that only France, Spain and the UK have conducted hepatitis awareness campaigns and that France, the Netherlands, the UK and Sweden are the only countries to have developed a comprehensive national plan to fight hepatitis.
ELPA president Nadine Piorkowsky said, "If member states don't act, the EU has to guide them in the development of targeted screening campaigns for hepatitis risk groups.
"Countries like France have proven that investment in the fight against hepatitis pays off. There is no reason why this should not be replicated by other member states."
She said the consequences of inaction will be "terrible," adding, "People infected with the virus and treated too late frequently experience severe liver damage such as liver scarring, liver cancer, or liver failure."
She said that since the vast majority of those who carry the hepatitis virus are unaware of their infection, the number of patients with such follow-on diseases will rise "dramatically".
Heiner Wedemeyer, deputy secretary of the European association for the study of the liver, said, "Liver cancer is almost always fatal and incidence has already doubled in the past 20 years.
"Since there is a strong relationship between hepatitis and liver cancer, concrete efforts have to be made to find those hepatitis carriers, so they can become patients and receive treatment before cancer can set in."
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