“Healthy Liver Healthy Delhi” – Addressing Hepatitis C through Community Service Programs
NEW DELHI, India– December 6, 2017 – Mylan Pharmaceuticals Private Limited today announced a partnership with the Institute of Liver and Biliary Science (ILBS) to address the unmet need of creating awareness about hepatitis and facilitating early diagnosis through an innovative blend of technology and reach.
As a part of its global social responsibility initiative, Mylan is working with ILBS to design and launch the “Healthy Liver Healthy Delhi” program. With the theme of “Good Health for All,” the project aims to contain liver diseases, especially hepatitis, through a replicable and scalable model based on mass sensitization, awareness and screening.
Viral hepatitis contributes to significant disease burden in India with an estimated 8.7 million people with Hepatitis C and 40 million people with Hepatitis B. Even though hepatitis affects a sizeable population in the country, the majority are unaware of the disease and its consequences. This, coupled with the asymptomatic nature of the disease, has contributed to poor diagnosis and treatment. It is estimated that less than 1% of patients suffering from viral hepatitis are receiving treatment.
Delay in management can result in progression of the disease to advanced stages including liver failure and liver cancer. This can be addressed by building awareness amongst public and regular screening. Early diagnosis of hepatitis results in effective management of the disease, which ultimately leads to improvement in the quality of life, productivity and decrease in mortality rates. General awareness and effective management of the disease also has a positive influence on society through reduced rates of transmission.
The project “Healthy Liver Healthy Delhi”went live on December 4, 2017 with a state-of-the-art van designed to serve as a Mobile Diagnostic Unit, which was flagged off by Shri Satyendra Kumar Jain, the Honorable Health Minister, New Delhi. This state of the art Mobile Diagnostic Unit, equipped with the latest facilities for detection of liver related disorders, will be used for conducting public outreach screening camps. The unit also has a portable fibro-scan machine, which helps in non-invasive diagnosis of liver stiffness, a crucial parameter of liver health, in addition to facilities for phlebotomy and blood sample collection. It also has a television to showcase Hepatitis awareness videos.
The goal of the “Healthy Liver Healthy Delhi” project is to provide access to state-of-the-art screening and diagnosis, keeping in mind the asymptomatic nature of the disease and screen more than 10,000 patients in Delhi alone.
About Institute of Liver and Biliary Sciences
The Institute of Liver and Biliary Sciences is an Autonomous Super-speciality, Medical-cum-Research Institute for treatment of Liver and Biliary diseases under Government of NCT of Delhi. Since inception, the Institute has been making sincere endeavor to attain the bench mark of the best available quality parameters towards delivery of advance healthcare in the public domain at affordable costs.
In January 2012 ILBS achieved the distinction of being the first Autonomous Super-Specialty institute in the country to be awarded the prestigious "NABH Accreditation" by the National Accreditation Board for hospital and Healthcare Providers in recognition of its outstanding compliance with the stringent national and international standards aimed towards patient safety and delivery of Quality Healthcare.
