About 75,000 people with chronic hepatitis and over 9,000 people with cirrhosis were registered cumulatively in the Republic of Moldova last year. Alarming is the fact that the chronicity of these diseases results in the development of oncological forms. The Ministry of Health designed a program to prevent new infections with hepatitis B, C and D. By 2028, it is proposed to reduce the number of cases of acute viral hepatitis by 20%, IPN reports.
The Ministry noted that the cumulative infection rate in the case of chronic HCV saw a significant increase, from 10.94% in 2000 to 32.68% in 2023. The morbidity indices grew nine times.
In the Republic of Moldova, the cumulative morbidity due to malignant tumors of the liver and bile ducts increased from 13.50 per 100,000 people in 2016 to 14.60 cases in 2021. The incidence of new detected cases of malignant tumors of the liver and intrahepatic bile ducts rose from 7.4% in 2010 to 8.5% in 2021, with men being affected preponderantly.
“Following the approval of this program, the prevention of new infections with hepatitis B, C and D will be ensured with a 20% reduction in the number of cases of acute viral hepatitis by 2028. The population’s access to testing, laboratory diagnosis and treatment of viral hepatitis B, C and D will be ensured and, in order to carry out effective epidemiological surveillance, prevention and control actions will be taken to deal woth three links of the epidemic process: the source of infection, the mechanism and factors of transmission, and the population’s receptivity,” the Ministry of Health noted in the draft presented for consultations.
