Cebu docs mark World Hepatitis Day
The World Hepatitis Alliance spearheads the celebration of World Hepatitis Day every July 28.
This year, the Cebu Gastroenterology (GI) Group, in cooperation with Hepatology Society of the Philippines, will again hold their own celebration locally to improve awareness of the disease through a series of activities.
The activities will kick off tomorrow, July 28 with the simultaneous launching of liver clinics at the out-patient departments of Cebu Doctors’ University Hospital, Chong Hua Hospital, Cebu Velez General Hospital, Perpetual Succour Hospital, Visayas Community Medical Center, Cebu City Medical Center and Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center.
The liver clinics will be held at the Cebu Doctors and Chong Hua every Monday afternoon, Velez Hospital and Perpetual Succour Hospital every Wednesday morning, Visayas Community Medical Center every Wednesday afternoon and Cebu City hospital and Vicente Sotto hospital every Friday afternoon.
The group will also hold a lay forum at 1 p.m. for the barangay health workers at the Cebu Provincial Capitol and free hepatitis B screening.
The celebration will culminate with a “Run for Your Liver…Your Liver, You Life,” fun run on Aug. 7. The run will begin at 5:30 a.m. at the parking lot of Chong Hua Medical Arts building. The registration fee for the 3k, 6k and 12k categories is P300. Prizes await the lucky participants.
First launched in 2008 by the World Hepatitis Alliance, the World Hepatitis Day is an annual event that provides international focus for patients and people with hepatitis B or C.
According to World Health Organization, around 500 million people worldwide have either hepatitis B or hepatitis C.
This represents 1 in 12 people and was the basis for the 2008 World Hepatitis Day “Am I Number 12?” campaign. If left untreated, hepatitis B or C can lead to cirrhosis and other complications, including liver cancer.
With this year’s theme, “This is hepatitis…” organizers hope to focus attention on the global story of viral hepatitis, and the real-life impact of this disease on Filipinos.
