A joint press conference was held by the Ministry of Health, the National Center for Communicable Diseases, and World Health Organization Mongolia under the theme of “Bringing Hepatitis Care Closer to You” on the occasion of World Hepatitis Day 2022.
Dr Ts. Bilegtsaikhan, Director-General of the National Center for Communicable diseases, stressed in his opening remarks “Hepatitis B vaccination offers over 98% protection, and Hepatitis B treatment stops liver damage in 95%”. Then he encouraged all citizens to get early screening and vaccination against Hepatitis B.
“Hepatitis B and C are highly prevalent among the Mongolian population. 1 in every 10 people has chronic liver disease while 1 in 20 people is suffering from Hepatitis C” said Dr G. Gankhuyag, Director, Division of Non-communicable Diseases, Department of Public Health, Ministry of Health. He also emphasized that early screening and diagnosis are crucial to disease prevention, and patients with Hepatitis B and C need to adhere to the treatment strictly to overcome the potential complications.
Dr P. Anuzaya, Technical Officer at WHO Mongolia, briefly introduced the highlights of the Global Health Sector Strategies on, respectively, HIV, Viral Hepatitis, and STI for the period 2022-2030. “Health sector leadership and intersectoral collaboration play a critical role in ending these epidemics, acknowledging that a multisectoral Health in All Policies approach is required to remove structural and systemic barriers to accelerating progress, she underlined, after expressing her gratitude to the Ministry of Health and the National Center for Communicable Diseases for collaboration and co-organization of the World Hepatitis Day 2022 .