~ Le Viêt Nam, aujourd'hui. ~
The Vietnam News

[Year 1997]
[Year 1998]
[Year 1999]
[Year 2000]
[Year 2001]

12 million Vietnamese infected with Hepatitis B

HANOI - About 12 million Vietnamese, or 15 per cent of the population, are infected with Hepatitis B, a government official said on Wednesday. The figure is based on several surveys conducted by various health organisations nationwide since 1995, said Prof. Pham Hoang Phiet, president of Ho Chi Minh City's Liver and Gall Association.

Hepatitis B is a serious, sometimes fatal, disease caused by a virus that attacks the liver. It can cause lifelong infection, cirrhosis -- scarring -- of the liver, and cancer. Vietnam's rate of infection is roughly double the average rate of 8 per cent in other Southeast Asian countries, Phiet said. Other studies in the region show that between 20 per cent and 40 per cent of those infected are expected to develop cirrhosis of the liver and between 1 per cent and 4 per cent of those already in the cirrhosis stage may develop liver cancer, he said.

Hepatitis B, which kills about 2 million people a year worldwide, is transmitted through blood transfusions, sexual intercourse and from mother to unborn child. Last year, Vietnam launched a hepatitis vaccination program for newborns. About 1.7 million babies were each given three injections free of charge, Phiet said. It may take 10 years to reduce the number of hepatitis B patients, he said.

Associated Press - May 25, 2000.