The liver is vital to the function of our body. In addition to immune and metabolic functions (such as synthesis of cholesterol or albumin), it is also a storehouse for certain important substances (such as glycogen) and certain vitamins A, D and B12. It also acts as a purifying organ of different toxic substances circulating in the blood, such as eliminating ethanol and various metabolic degradation products. Finally, it secretes bile, which is essential for digesting dietary fat.
Damage to liver function from a variety of causes, including viruses such as hepatitis A, B, and C, alcohol, and iron, which cause steatosis, cirrhosis, and hemochromatosis, as well as bacterial infections and parasitic diseases, such as liver flukes . Likewise, the liver is affected by a variety of congenital, vascular, and cancerous disorders, both primary and metastatic.
Today we will discuss the progress in the fight against hepatitis C, which can affect us badly, often asymptomatic but in chronic patients can lead to cirrhosis, liver failure, liver cancer and esophageal varices, diseases that can even lead to death. patient. Spain is the world champion for hepatitis C, with 165,000 cases per million inhabitants, according to the Spanish Alliance to Eliminate Viral Hepatitis (Aehve). Of these, an estimated 30% did not know they were infected, most between the ages of 40 and 69. But there is an effective treatment, direct-acting oral antiviral drugs, that cures almost all cases and has few side effects. Therefore, early and effective diagnosis, treatment and elimination of these infections from the map are very important to prevent their spread. Remember that infections occur through sharing needles with infected people (drug use), contamination accidents by health workers, unprotected sex with infected people, and patients on long-term kidney dialysis.
To combat hepatitis C, Galicia has launched an innovative global initiative that could make us the first region in Europe to be free of this disease. The World Health Organization (WHO) itself proposes that by 2030 there will be 90% fewer new infections and more than 65% fewer deaths than when the treatment was introduced in 2015.
The Department of Health’s strategy is based on opportunistic age screening, whereby a hepatitis C test is automatically offered to all people of a certain age who must have a blood test for any other reason. This screening will be incorporated into electronic medical records throughout the Galician community. The first year started with users aged 50 to 59, and then expanded to other target groups aged 40 to 69. The samples will be analyzed by a special PCR technique called pooling. Alright, let’s get started.