According to the World Health Organization (WHO), an estimated two to five per cent of the country’s population is chronically infected with viral hepatitis.

by Parthshri Arora, originally posted on May 12, 2016

Waterborne viral hepatitis is afflicting hundreds of thousands of Indians every year in a country that experts say has the highest number of people in the world without access to safe water.

Hepatitis viruses A and E that gnaw on the liver can be transmitted through contaminated water or food and are rampant in developing countries.

These acute forms of the disease are largely self-limiting and do not become chronic for healthy adults but can turn dangerous and fatal for pregnant women.

According to Central Bureau of Health Intelligence (CBHI) data, a total of 133,625 cases and 397 deaths were recorded due to Hepatitis A and E infections last year.

Bihar led with 25,808 cases followed by Madhya Pradesh at 12,938 and Uttar Pradesh at 11,088. West Bengal reported 3,865 cases with the highest number of deaths – 81- followed by Delhi at 76 and UP at 62.

The national capital recorded a total of 8,362 such Hepatitis cases in 2015.

“The main cause of Hepatitis A and E is consumption of contaminated water and provision of safe drinking water is the main strategy to control diseases caused by drinking of contaminated water,” minister of state for health Shripad Yesso Naik told the Rajya Sabha this week.

The international charity Water Aid said this year that 75.8 million Indians – or nearly 5 per cent of the population – are forced to either buy water at high rates or use supplies that are tainted with sewage or chemicals. The United Nations says access to safe drinking water and adequate sanitation services is vital to human health.

The CBHI compiled its data from the monthly health condition reports of the directorate of health services of states and union territories.

The number of cases of viral hepatitis in India has been high in recent years with health ministry data showing 94,402 cases in 2011, 118,880 the next year and 104,145 cases in 2013.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), an estimated two to five per cent of the country’s population is chronically infected with viral hepatitis.

The national centre for disease control under the health ministry provides technical guidance to state governments on prevention and control of water-borne illnesses, including Hepatitis, and helps them investigate the outbreaks of such diseases under the integrated disease surveillance programme (IDSP).

Funds are released to states and union territories under the IDSP to strengthen surveillance and to detect and respond to outbreaks of epidemic-prone diseases.