YEREVAN, JULY 28, ARMENPRESS. Armenia adopted a policy of eliminating viral hepatitis under the 2022-2030 strategy, the Ministry of Healthcare said.

The goal is to drastically decrease prevalence by 2030 with integrating patient care and treatment services.

Since 2020 patients with chronic viral Hepatitis C are provided with free anti-viral drugs. To ensure the continuity of the program, the treatment regulations with new drugs has recently been approved.

517 patients received treatment for Hepatitis C in Armenia in 2022.

Since 1999, vaccinations against Hepatitis B are carried out in Armenia, thanks to which acute Hepatitis B cases are not recorded among children below the age of 14.

Viral hepatitis remains a main cause of death worldwide, with more than 1,000,000 people dying from the disease every year.

There is no vaccine against Hepatitis C yet.

Common modes of transmission for these viruses include receipt of contaminated blood or blood products, invasive medical procedures using contaminated equipment and for hepatitis B transmission from mother to baby at birth, from family member to child, and also by sexual contact.

Early diagnosis of viral hepatitis is highly important for treatment, therefore regular testing is advised because the disease can have an asymptomatic course.

Free, anonymous testing is regularly organized in Yerevan and other cities.