In 2023, Portugal carried out more than a million tests for hepatitis B and C, a figure that is considered positive, but the director of the National Viral Hepatitis Program (PNHV) further defends the importance of testing.
“We are one of the countries in Europe where the most testing is done. These are the ‘silent’ diseases, the diseases that people don’t know about and that they can get 20-30 years later. Everyone should be tested for hepatitis B, hepatitis C and AIDS at least once in their life,” said Rui Tato Marinho.
In an interview with Luce, the PNHV director stressed the importance of testing because it allows “to identify people who do not know they have the disease, to vaccinate, to cure and to protect family and other people,” since infectious diseases are at stake.
This is one of the recommendations of the report of the National Viral Hepatitis Programme until 2024, which will be presented this Thursday at 11am at the Northern Regional Office of the Medical Association in Porto.
PNHV is one of the priority health programmes of the Directorate General of Health (DGS) and this document aims to characterise the current situation of viral hepatitis in Portugal.
It describes the clinical and social characteristics, summarizes the main activities for epidemiological surveillance, prevention, diagnosis and treatment developed last year, and sets out a roadmap for action to 2025.
The epidemiological surveillance data for hepatitis A, B (including Delta), C and E were obtained from the SINAVE (National Epidemiological Surveillance System) support platform, taking into account that the data for 2023 are still preliminary.
The document states that “tests for the diagnosis of HBV [vírus da hepatite B] and HCV [Vírus da hepatite C] prescribed and administered annually in hospital and primary care settings, have shown a global growth trend.”
The report’s authors believe that this increase “is likely a result of increased attention to viral hepatitis B and C in recent years, support for key populations and vulnerable groups, and in the context of global health surveillance.”
At the primary health care level, 289,959 HBsAg (hepatitis B surface antigen) tests and 218,566 anti-HCV (hepatitis C virus antibodies) tests were ordered and performed in 2023, an increase of 4% and 8%, respectively, compared to 2022.
However, the authors argue that “these results may be underestimated in terms of diagnostic intervention, since rapid HCV testing is available in many healthcare settings.” [vírus da hepatite C]since there is currently no standardized and approved procedure for its monitoring at the national level.”
“In other words, growth is positive, but we want more,” concluded Luse Rui Tato Marinho.
The report also notes that according to the Primary Health Care Identity Card Platform (BI-CSP), there has been a steady increase in the incidence of viral hepatitis since 2021, with a rate of 0.61% recorded in December 2023. Primary health care diagnosed with viral hepatitis (55,927 cases).
“Compared to 2022, 1,661 new cases were recorded,” the document says.
There are more men than women with active viral hepatitis, most of them between 45 and 64 years old, with the largest number of users in the Lisbon and Tagus Valley region.
But the authors also warn that these data “may not reflect the true and reliable incidence and prevalence of viral hepatitis in the country, as some systematic errors may be present.”
Another recommendation involves raising awareness among physicians and strengthening training for general and family medicine teams on the importance of recordings, periodically updating the Problem List, and notifying through the SINAVE support platform even if “while treating a probable case.”
Rui Tato Marinho goes further and asks that “the PNHV philosophy be more actively applied in practice, especially since it is a recommendation of the World Health Organization (WHO), which in April chose Portugal to host the 2024 World Hepatitis Summit, a meeting that brings together governments and health professionals, civil society organizations, politicians, scientists and people who live or have lived with hepatitis from more than 100 countries.
“The philosophy of the program over the years has been to integrate hospital care, general and family medicine, primary care, public health and the social world,” said the director, who led the program for three years.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
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