Govt hospitals to start ante-natal hepatitis check

KOLKATA: State-run hospitals will soon start ante-natal checking for hepatitis B in order to prevent mother-to-child transmission of the virus. This is one of the various measures that the state health department is taking up to combat hepatitis, in sync with the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) target to eliminate the virus by 2030.
“We are setting up ante-natal screening facilities for hepatitis B in all state-run hospitals across the state.This will help us take measures in case the woman is detected positive,” said a health department official on the sidelines of a dissemination meeting on hepatitis, organised by Liver Foundation West Bengal (LFWB) on Thursday.
“We need to spread awareness to every health worker so that they understand the disease burden. This will help tackle the hepatitis menace to a great extent,” said Ajay Chakraborty, director of health services.