‘We are all at risk now’: the number of chronic hepatitis C patients increases in Tatarstan

09:00, 14.03.2025

A week aimed to combat hepatitis C held in Russia

‘We are all at risk now’: the number of chronic hepatitis C patients increases in Tatarstan — Photo: Максим Платонов

From carriers to patients

In Tatarstan, there are about 5,000 patients with chronic hepatitis B and more than 11,000 patients with hepatitis C. This was reported at a press conference by deputy head of the Department for Epidemiological Supervision of the Tatarstan office of Russia’s consumer rights protection watchdog Flyora Amrakhova.

The week from 10 to 16 March has been declared by the Russian Ministry of Health as a week to combat infection and the spread of chronic viral hepatitis C.

Last summer, the watchdog reported a 26% increase in the incidence of viral hepatitis C in Russia in the state report on the state of sanitary and epidemiological well-being of the population. The economic burden of viral hepatitis C also remains significant. According to calculations, it amounted to 65.6 billion rubles, taking into account direct and indirect costs.

“The number of patients with hepatitis C in Tatarstan, compared to 2023, has increased [by one and a half times] and reached about 11,000 people, but this does not mean that everyone suddenly fell ill with hepatitis. This means that previously many of those who fell ill were registered as carriers, and when they sought help, they were transferred to the category of sick,” explained Flyora Amrakhova.

It is impossible to determine the disease by a person's appearance

Chief specialist of the Ministry of Health of Tatarstan in infectious diseases, associate professor of the Department of Child Infections at Kazan Medical University Khalit Khayertynov also recalled the Global Strategy on Viral Hepatitis, which was adopted in May 2016 by 194 member states of the World Health Organization. The goal of the strategy is to eradicate viral hepatitis B and C worldwide by 2030.

The strategy includes tasks for the prevention and treatment of viral hepatitis, the implementation of which will reduce the number of deaths caused by viral hepatitis by 65%, increase treatment coverage to 80% of patients and save more than 7 million lives worldwide. More than one million people still die from viral hepatitis every year.

“Since the autumn of 2024, we have been maintaining a federal register of patients with hepatitis C. Serious work is being done not only to understand the numbers, but also to know how many people need antiviral therapy,” added Khayertynov. “If the RNA of the virus is not detected in a person's tests, then there is no need to administer antiviral therapy to him, and he can be removed from the register and marked as recovered.”

When asked whether it is possible to suspect a person of having hepatitis C by external signs, the chief infectious disease specialist of Tatarstan gave an unambiguous answer:

“No, it is impossible to understand whether a person is sick or not by appearance. In the acute period, hepatitis C is asymptomatic, and the icteric form is weakly expressed. The most common complaint with hepatitis C is weakness, lack of desire to work. You might think that a person is simply lazy, but in fact, he has hepatitis C.”

Deputy Chief Physician for the Medical Unit of the Republican Clinical Infectious Diseases Hospital named after A. Agafonov Yulia Sozinova reminded us that all citizens entering the country are screened not only for hepatitis C but also for other viral diseases and added that screening and prevention are necessary for everyone.