Every 15th carrier of the hepatitis C virus (HCV) is an Indian and 12.5 million Indians suffering from HCV, with the death rate exceeding over one lakh per year, according to the Indian National Association for the Study of Liver (INASL).

The key to successfully tackling the challenge of chronic hepatitis is awareness and public education and INASL is committed to the cause of tackling this menace with specific projects to facilitate physician education, along with efforts to drive community level immunization programmes, the national conference of the organisation said.

Leading doctors from the country and outside, specialists and Delhi health minister professor Kiran Walia attended the conference, held here recently to discuss the best options for early detection, management and treatment of hepatitis amongst various other complications affecting the liver such as acute liver failure, fatty liver disease, and hepatic encephalopathy along with recent updates on liver transplantation.

"Hepatitis C is responsible for as many as one in four cases of liver cancer and 20 per cent of chronic liver disease is because of Hepatitis C. However if detected early, hepatitis C can be cured, while hepatitis B treatment only suppresses the infection," Gastroenterology department head at the AIIMS Dr S K Acharya opined.

The most common risk factor for hepatitis C infection today is intravenous drug use, especially through sharing of contaminated needles. In fact, 60 per cent to 80 per cent of all IV-drug users are infected with the HCV. Other risk factors include tattooing and body piercing if the tattoo/body piercing needles are not properly sterilized, the speakers at the conference said

Although hepatitis is not easily spread through sexual intercourse, high-risk behaviour, such as multiple sexual partners, is associated with an increased risk of HCV. Blood transfusions are another leading cause of HCV where unsuspecting patients are given blood which has the Hepatitis C virus, emphasized Dr Ajay Kumar, senior consultant at Indraprastha Apollo in New Delhi.