AKIPRESS.COM - Minister of Health of Mongolia Chinzorig Sodnom introduced the current status of hepatitis D virus infection, treatment, and diagnosis, as well as measures to be taken in the future at the Cabinet meeting on March 28.
The prevalence of hepatitis virus is high in Mongolia. Liver cirrhosis and cancer are common complications among those infected, and the number of deaths due to this is the highest in the world. In particular, 80% of combined infections with B and D viruses are complicated by chronic liver inflammation, cirrhosis, and cancer.
The World Health Organization believes that hepatitis D virus does not exist alone, and 5% of people infected with the B virus have co-infection with the D virus. An international meta-analysis estimated that there may be 66,000 people infected with the hepatitis D in Mongolia.
The Ministry of Health paid more attention to the issue of including citizens in the treatment of hepatitis D virus in 2023. Of the 13.5 billion tugriks budgeted for 2023, 9.7 billion tugriks has been allocated to the "Eleg Buten Mongol" program, 2.3 billion tugriks for increasing diagnostic capacity, strengthening human resources, and 1.4 billion tugriks for improving early detection and diagnosis in rural communities.