Hepatitis b and c: a twin silent killer

Hepatitis B and C have been dubbed “Silent killer” because chronic hepatitis B and C are asymptomatic, but can cause considerable liver damage before its recognition. People know very little about hepatitis B and C, an insidious and enigmatic disease of the liver caused by viral agents of at least five major different viruses and nonviral agents: toxic and drug induced, alcoholic, autoimmune, fatty liver and metabolic disorders. Viral hepatitis is the seventh major leading cause of death worldwide. Hepatitis B and C combined caused approximately 80% of all liver cancer deaths and resulted in the death of close to 1.4 million people every year, more than HIV or tuberculosis. Despite this colossal harm and grin statistics most of the 400 million people with chronic hepatitis B and C, the most serious form of hepatitis don’t know that they are infected. This enables the infection to go unnoticed and undiagnosed, until the virus has caused serious liver damage. Hepatitis is a global health challenge, its impact under-estimated, services under-resourced, and receive minimal no or political attention.