Elimination of Hepatitis by empowering adolescents

‘The Birds and Bees Talk’ conduct workshops in Nagaland, North East states

Dimapur, July 30 (MExN): To achieve the elimination of viral hepatitis within evolving health systems, Durex-led ‘The Birds and Bees Talk (TBBT),’ a purpose driven initiative supported by Reckitt and Plan India, hosted dedicated workshops for community, students, and teachers in Nagaland and five other states of Northeast – Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Manipur, and Mizoram.

Aimed at highlighting the need to bring hepatitis care closer to the communities, the workshops saw participation from bureaucrats, public health professional, influencers, and artists to raise awareness about the disease, according to a press release received here on Friday.

According to the release, World Hepatitis Day is observed each year on July 28 to raise awareness of viral hepatitis and the World Health Organization (WHO) and other global organizations have been drawing attention to the urgency of efforts needed to eliminate hepatitis as a public health threat by 2030.

This year, the event was observed in collaboration with Red Ribbon Clubs to strengthen the youth initiatives on health factors that have an impact on the state. To create awareness on the viral hepatitis and encourage preventive measures to curb the virus, the emphasis was on the 5 pillars of TBBT (Awareness, Consent, Protection, Equity and Inclusion), it said.

The workshops saw participation from senior delegates including Tanyang Tatak – Joint Director of Secondary Education, Government of Arunachal Pradesh; Dr H Lalthlangliana, Director, Department of Education, Mizoram; Dr Jamthianlal, Senior, CMO, Churachandpur, Manipur; amongst others who deliberated on concerns over prevalence of Hepatitis in India, especially in Northeast states.

Dr Imtisunep Jamir, Nodal Officer (National Viral Hepatitis Program) Model Treatment Centre, Naga Hospital Authority, Kohima, Nagaland also joined the workshop.

Among others, Ravi Bhatnagar, Director External Affairs and Partnerships SOA, Reckitt said that the recent pandemic has brought home the importance of health literacy as a powerful tool to boost health and responsible behaviour.

“Hepatitis is a global outbreak which can be prevented with right knowledge and precautionary measures. Through the Durex led The Birds and Bees Talk we aim to empower the adolescents and youth with right information to take informed decisions leading to healthy lifestyles for a better, safer, and healthier future. These workshops are an endeavor to further our efforts and empower communities in the Northeast states through focusing on protection by raising awareness amongst youth,” the release quoted him as saying.

The representatives from the North East states also shared their views, noting that the programme would help in channeling the youth’s energy in positive direction.

“On this event of World Hepatitis Day, we vow to bring hepatitis care closer to you and your families for a healthier generation today and tomorrow by supporting programs like The Birds and Bees Talk in their endevours,” the release stated, quoting Dr Imtisunep Jamir.

Similarly, Botam Moyang, Asst Professor, Dera Natun College and Programme Officer Red Ribbon Clubs, Arunachal Pradesh called on the participants to promise to create awareness among youths along with The Birds and Bees Talk programme to prevent the contagious disease like HIV/hepatitis as prevention is better than cure.

On the occasion, Mohammed Asif, Executive Director, Plan India stated that Plan India has been working for more than two decades towards enhancing health services and wellbeing for all children, adolescents and young women and men. “With one person dying every 30 seconds from any hepatitis related illness, we cannot wait to act. We believe that adolescents and young people must be enabled, equipped and empowered to participate in their own development and therefore raising their awareness on hepatitis related illnesses is an important public health intervention,” he said.

The release stated that Hepatitis B and C are silent epidemics, hitting children and marginalized populations and kill more people annually than from HIV/AIDS, Malaria and tuberculosis. 90% of people living with hepatitis B and 80% living with hepatitis C are unaware they are living with such disease, resulting in the real possibility of developing fatal liver disease or liver cancer at some point in their lives and in some cases, unknowingly transmitting the infection to others, although Hepatitis B is vaccine preventable, and Hepatitis C is curable.

The initiative addressed the lack of awareness around the disease in 6 Northeast states including Nagaland through participation from students and teachers and public health professional, it said, adding that the TBBT aims to encourage adolescent to take action, make them aware of the deadly disease – risk factors, early signs, etc., and share relevant information on preventive measures.

Based on the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (target 3.3) to end Hepatitis, the speaker sessions were followed by exciting activities and competitions such as discussion sessions, music performance, extempore, cultural performances, peer to peer knowledge sharing, performances from local artists, poster making competitions and more to engage and motivate students to emerge as agents of change, it said.

Source: https://morungexpress.com/elimination-of-hepatitis-by-empowering-adolescents