development, Dr. Tope Yomcha (DRCHO- District Reproductive Child
Health Officer, NHM), former GDMO- General Duty Medical Officer and a recipient of the State Gold
Medal for improving immunization status in Changlang District and Dr. Banikanta (Influencer), a
Consultant Physician & Diabetologist and a renowned YouTuber who creates live webinars and videos to
bridge the gap between medical science and the general public. Through this initiative the speakers
touched upon the risks, prevention along-with discussing the key solutions for the disease.
Hepatitis B and C are silent epidemics, hitting children and marginalized populations and kill more
people annually than from HIV/AIDS, Malaria & tuberculosis.90% of people living with hepatitis B and
80% living with hepatitis C are unaware they are living with such disease, resulting in the real possibility
of developing fatal liver disease or liver cancer at some point in their lives and in some cases,
unknowingly transmitting the infection to others, although Hepatitis B is vaccine preventable, and
Hepatitis C is curable. Through this initiative, TBBT aims to encourage people to take action, make them
aware of the deadly disease- risk factors, early signs, etc and share information on preventive measures.
Dr. Tope Yomcha, DRCHO (District Reproductive Child Health Officer), NHM said, “It is important to
educate the future generation about the severity of Hepatitis and its adverse effects. The youth
contributing to 70% of our population, it is imperative to understand the implications of this fatal disease
as it can seriously damage the liver, cause cancer and premature death. Through this webinar, we
initiated a much needed dialogue and raised awareness about the disease among the masses. We hope we
were successful in fulfilling the goal of educating the younger generation and being one step closer to
eradicating the disease,”
Mr. Gaurav Jain, SVP, South Asia from Reckitt said, “The recent pandemic has brought home the
importance of health literacy among populations as a powerful tool to boost health outcomes and
resilience. Hepatitis is a highly preventable disease which can be beaten if vulnerable groups are
provided the right information at the right time. By bringing experts on board to educate adolescents on
hepatitis, the Durex Birds and Bees Talk campaign is helping adolescents and youth with the right tools to
protect themselves by raising awareness and encouraging them to make health a priority.”
Mr. Mohammed Asif, Executive Director, Plan India stated, “Plan India has been working for more
than two decades to improve sexual and reproductive health services and wellbeing for all children,
adolescent girls and young women and men. With one person dying every 30 seconds from any hepatitis
related illness – and which is likely to get accentuated by the COVID-19 pandemic, we cannot wait to act.
On World Hepatitis Day, we aim to inform adolescents and community members with knowledge on
prevention strategies, which is one of the pillars of our program ‘The Birds and Bees Talk’. We believe
that adolescents and young people must be enabled, equipped and empowered to participate in their
own development and therefore raising their awareness on hepatitis related illnesses is an important
public health intervention.”
In 2015, viral hepatitis was included in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and in 2016 the
world’s first global hepatitis strategy to eliminate the disease was ratified.
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