Mexico City, July 29 (EFE).- Hepatitis C, a disease that for decades was associated with cirrhosis, liver cancer and transplants, can be cured today in more than 95% of patients with treatments lasting between eight and twelve weeks, but the main challenge in Mexico continues to be detecting infected people before complications appear, warned a specialist.

On the occasion of World Hepatitis Day, which is commemorated every July 28, gastroenterologist Sergio Gabriel Muñoz Martínez, from the ABC Medical Center, told EFE that most cases of hepatitis B and C go unnoticed for years because the infection does not produce symptoms, which encourages liver damage to progress silently.

“The patient can be 10 or 15 years old without feeling anything at all, while the damage to the liver progresses little by little and can lead to cirrhosis or even liver cancer,” he explained.

Muñoz Martínez considered that one of the main obstacles to combating viral hepatitis is misinformation, since many people still believe that these are diseases related exclusively to alcohol consumption.

“Viral hepatitis is not directly related to alcohol,” the doctor clarified.

The expert also explained that the main risk factors include contact with contaminated blood, the use of non-sterile needles, tattoos or piercings performed without adequate sanitary measures and, in the case of hepatitis B, unprotected sexual relations.

More detection, less cirrhosis

According to Muñoz Martínez, advances in vaccination, diagnosis and treatment have changed the panorama of viral hepatitis, to the extent that currently the main cause of cirrhosis is no longer viruses B and C, but fatty liver and alcohol consumption.

In Mexico, he added, the Ministry of Health applied nearly four million detection tests between 2021 and 2026, a strategy that has allowed more cases to be identified and patients to be brought closer to curative treatments.

In addition, he recalled that since this year the vaccine against hepatitis A was incorporated into the national vaccination scheme, while treatments for hepatitis B and C are available within the public health system.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has set the goal of eliminating viral hepatitis as a public health problem by 2030.

To get closer to that goal, Muñoz Martínez believes that Mexico must strengthen detection campaigns and combat the stigma that still surrounds the disease.

«The most important thing first is the detection of cases. Because by detecting cases you can better calculate the health problem to be able to put a budget, treatments and what is needed,” he stated.

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